St Mirren manager believes Heffernan is Kilmarnock’s version of Rooney

Paul Heffernan has scored eight goals in six appearances this season, including a hat-trick in the 5-0 Scottish Communities League Cup win over Queen of the South in midweek. The Buddies manager made favourable comparisons between the 20-year-old Irishman, who arrived in Ayrshire from Sheffield Wednesday in the summer, and Manchester United star Rooney, who has started with 11 goals in nine games.

“Heffernan has scored eight in six appearances,” said Lennon. “They are raving about Wayne Rooney down in England but it is similar up here with him. They also have flair players like James Dayton and Dean Shiels and they are hitting a good bit of form. They are coming off a 5-0 victory in the cup so they will come in to the game with a great deal of confidence. They took a lot of teams by surprise last season and you have to give them a lot of credit in what they achieved.

“A lot of people had them down as relegation favourites along with us and they certainly rose above that and had an absolutely fantastic season. Likewise, we have a lot of good qualities and strengths ourselves.

“We come off the back of a very good performance [against St Johnstone]. We’ve made a lot of improvements in a lot of areas this season, although there is a lot of work still be done.”

To that end, Lennon pleaded for patience from the minority of the St Mirren support who are frustrated that their good play has not always been translated into points.

“I certainly believe the supporters are enjoying the brand of football they are seeing,” he said. “I would ask the small minority of them to be a little more patient.

“We do know that there has to be more of an end product. We certainly thought we had more directness in the final third the other night.”

Kilmarnock manager Kenny Shiels, meanwhile, believes his team’s trip to Paisley has the potential to be the SPL’s match of the day.

Only one point separates the teams, with Kilmarnock ahead on ten points in fifth place and Shiels anticipates an entertaining contest.

He said: “I am sure the purists will want to watch this game and I’m sure the geography and locality will lend itself towards a decent crowd. We have watched them quite a lot and they are a very good team.

“They are putting on a good style of football and I reckon that potentially this could be the best game in the league this Saturday.”

Kilmarnock midfielder Gary Harkins agrees that the game could excite the fans. “I’ve seen a bit of them,” he said. “They are playing some great football. It will be tough to play against but hopefully it will make it a good game. On paper, it should be good to watch and have goals in it but we will need to wait to see what Saturday brings.”