Kilmarnock boss Stuart Kettlewell backs Bruce Anderson to thrive

Kilmarnock manager Stuart Kettlewell hopes Bruce Anderson can go from “strength to strength” while Marley Watkins faces a spell on the sidelines.

Both forwards have had to be patient under Kettlewell but Anderson marked his second start of the William Hill Premiership campaign with an impressive goal in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Dundee United.

However, Watkins will have to wait longer for his first league start after suffering an injury late on at Tannadice.

“We’ve got a concern about Marley Watkins, it looks as if Marley’s going to miss a period of time,” said Kettlewell, whose side host St Mirren on Saturday.

“If you look at his chance he gets towards the end of the game, you’ll see that he starts hobbling at the end of that.

“He’s got a problem with his heel so we have had it scanned and we probably just need to see how that settles over the next week or so.

“It was completely innocuous, we don’t even think it was contact, I think it was almost just planting his foot, but he’s going to miss several weeks.”

Anderson followed up his penalty strike against St Mirren in the Premier Sports Cup with the opener at Tannadice.

Last season the former Aberdeen and Livingston forward scored 11 league goals – more than fellow forwards Kyle Vassell, Bobby Wales and Watkins combined – despite starting less games than those three team-mates.

The 27-year-old has come off the bench in 19 of his 36 league appearances for Killie but Kettlewell feels he can prove himself a regular starter after displacing Djenairo Daniels last weekend.

“I don’t see him as a sub and I never came here with that mindset that Bruce was just one of these kind of impact players,” the former Ross County and Motherwell manager said.

“He was a player that I’d been interested in previously and worked pretty hard to try and get him before he came to Kilmarnock. I don’t think you do that with somebody that you think is just an impact player.

“I tried to take him on loan years ago when he was at Aberdeen as well so again it probably gives you that reasonable indication of what I think of the player.

“Bruce will tell you himself that he plays football to score goals, but he brings so much else when you watch him. His movement is intelligent, he can play in a front two, I think he can play as a lone striker.

“The goal that Bruce scores on Saturday is symptomatic of what he is, by shifting the ball and finishing it with so much composure.

“But go and have a look at some of his all-round play within the game and how he connects with his team-mates as well, there’s a lot of good stuff other than just hitting the back of the net.

“We hope that he goes from strength to strength along with the rest of them throughout the course of the season.”