Mulumbu motivation impresses Killie boss Clarke

Published 25th Nov 2017

Steve Clarke admits Youssouf Mulumbu's hunger to move to Kilmarnock and get back playing was the key factor in his signing.

The Kilmarnock boss has been reunited with the former West Brom midfielder, who could make his debut against Aberdeen on Sunday after signing until the end of the season.

The 30-year-old was a free agent after leaving Norwich in the summer and was happy to train with Killie for two weeks before penning a deal.

That's the biggest thing,' Clarke said.He was back in France, living there, and he has moved to Scotland, a foreign country to him.

`He hasn't come for the money, he is on relatively small wages, certainly comparable to what he was on before.

`He is here because he wants to kick-start his career again. He's here to showcase himself. If we can give him that platform, he will help us and we will help him.'

Clarke has only lost one of his five matches in charge of Killie, but that was his only home match, against Hibernian.

And he is desperate to maintain recent momentum by leading the Ayrshire side to their first home victory in the Ladbrokes Premiership this season.

It would certainly be quite helpful if we can win a game at home,' he said.We need to win games because we are playing catch-up from the start of the season.

`I have only had one stab at it and I thought we played really well. If we can maintain that level of performance then the results will follow.'