JACKSON IRVINE does not have to look far these days to find fellow countrymen.
Two groups of Australians are touring our fair isles in 2013, one rather more successfully than the other. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, at least, will be spared the ignominy of failing to win a single Test match when they embark on a seven-date circuit of Britain's biggest music halls in the winter. "I love them," said Irvine, who was wearing the T-shirt to prove it. "I've got tickets to see them in Edinburgh in November. It'll be brilliant."
Irvine joined Kilmarnock on loan from Celtic this week, and the central midfielder is likely to start today's match at St Mirren Park as Kilmarnock seek to plug the holes a summer of change ripped into the teamsheet. Searching for top-level football, he was in no doubt he could find what he was looking for at Rubgy Park. "Hopefully I can get a regular start; if I can step in straight away and keep my position in the team, that'd be great," he said.
"You can learn a lot in youth games and things like that but once you get to a certain point, I think you need to test yourself physically against men every week. One of my best mates, Lewis Toshney, was here a couple of years ago for a loan spell and he absolutely loved it, he said the boys were great and everybody in the place looked after him."
Fans hoping for another dragged out will-he, won't-he tabloid soap story might have had their hopes already dashed, though. Differing European/Scottish rulebooks aside, Neil Lennon is no doubt more careful now and, unlike that infamous exile Mo Bangura, Irvine confirmed he definitely won't be lining up against Celtic. And though his focus in the short-term is fully on Kilmarnock, the back of his mind will hide thoughts of his parent club and the manager he aims to impress.
"I'll need to build on the experience that I can take in this league because this is where I want to play my football," he said. "It's right under the nose of the manager which is probably the priority. There'll be people coming to watch the games and keeping tabs on how I'm progressing, so that's a bonus."
Irvine's versatility is one of the major reasons manager Allan Johnston was so keen to bring him to Rugby Park and even Lennon and the player are still unsure which position he'll eventually make his own. In the short term, though, will Irvine play at centre-back or in central midfield?
"Both," Johnston said bluntly. "There's a few missing from the centre of the park and we've only really got the one centre half just now. It's good that he can play both positions. He played last week for Celtic against Liverpool and did extremely well; he's good on the ball so hopefully he makes an impact."
Someone who will be hoping he does not is Danny Lennon, the St Mirren manager, who has designs on emulating the success of the likes of Motherwell, St Johnstone and Ross County last season by turning St Mirren Park into a fortress. Strong home form was largely responsible for those three clubs achieving top-half finishes last year and, as St Mirren prepare for their opening home game of the campaign against Kilmarnock this afternoon, Lennon wants his side to become similarly hard to beat on their own patch. The Paisley side took just 21 points from a possible 57 at home last year and the manager is looking for better this term.
He said: "This is our first home game of the season so we want to put down a marker. The teams that had the best home records last season, the ones that scored regularly and didn't let many in, are ones we have to use as benchmarks. That's why those clubs were successful and reached the right end of the table.
"We want to make St Mirren Park a fortress for us this season. We want to make it very difficult for other teams and let them know that they'll be in a game from the first minute to the last. That's the mentality we're looking to build within the squad."
Lennon took in Kilmarnock's game with St Johnstone last weekend and was impressed with what he saw in the goalless draw. He admits he is a big admirer of Kris Boyd, the striker having signed on at Rugby Park for another year, but knows that the former Rangers man will not be the only threat to his side this afternoon.
"I was very impressed with Boydy last weekend," he said. "He did terrifically well with his mobility, and the way he made things happen. He's not blessed with pace but he plays on the edge of offside and makes fantastically well-time runs. I think Kilmarnock have got good players throughout their team, however. There's Paul Heffernan, Jeroen Tesselaar, the boy Rory McKeown did well at left-back with a lot of good energy, while the lad they got from Celtic, Rabiu Ibrahim, showed a good left foot. And they've also got the lads Chris Johnston and William Gros to come off the bench.
"So they've got a decent bit of depth in their squad. There were one or two things that I picked up from the game that we will pay closer attention to but there were also weaknesses that we will try to exploit."
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