Wright rates Lafferty as one of the best free agent signings

Kilmarnock boss Tommy Wright has hailed Kyle Lafferty’s impact at the club – saying he’s probably the best free agent to join a club outside the transfer window.

Lafferty signed a contract at Rugby Park in February and has been a regular goalscorer since getting up to full fitness, scoring ten goals, including two hat-tricks.

The goals have helped Killie in their battle against relegation, and as well as climbing out of the drop zone, the team has progressed to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup.

Wright revealed his admiration for the impact that the Northern Ireland international had made and said he hadn’t signed a better free agent.

“I’ve had good strikers like Stevie May, who got 27 goals in one season,” Wright said.

“You find with strikers they can hit purple patches. Steven McLean hit purple patches for me.

“But for someone to come in and make that sort of impact in this sort of season, Kyle’s probably the best out of contract signing that I’ve made, and probably the best that’s been made in the last decade in Scotland, outwith the window.

“It’s not often that they do as well as Kyle has done.”

Wright has already revealed his desire to sign Lafferty on a longer-term deal and call on his services next season. He said that while the player had a well-earned reputation as a joker, his attitude to work was always professional.

“I don’t want to change him,” Wright said. “Where I’ve been helped is that I feel I’m more experienced as a manager and in a better place to deal with it.

“That’s not painting a picture that he’s trouble, because he isn’t. He’s a lovely lad.

“He does like a joke, everybody knows that, but he never messes about on the training pitch. He’s a really good professional.”