Kilmarnock defender reflects on 'positive' move north as he prepares for milestone
Killie defender Joe Wright says his move north of the border has been ‘positive’ as he looks to make his 100th appearance for the club.
The 29-year-old could hit that mark against Motherwell on Wednesday night having been a mainstay in the side during his two-and-a-half years in Ayrshire.
It’s a milestone not to be sniffed at for the former Doncaster Rovers centre-back considering his career was very much at a crossroads having been injured for 12 months and found himself without a club.
Prior to the knee and ankle injury he had been on the verge of a move to Hearts and while he’s achieved plenty during his stint at Rugby Park, he’s determined to make sure there’s more success to come.
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He said: “It’s definitely been a positive experience for me at the club. Coming here on the back of a bad injury, with quite a bit of uncertainty, I’m really happy to rack up 100 games in quite a short period of time.
“I wouldn’t say it has exceeded my expectations because to be honest I didn’t have any expectations. I just wanted to get back to playing football.
“If you had told me that first season I would go and play 20 or 40 games, I’d have been happy with either of them on the back of the situation I was in so to come here and, in the main, play every game I’ve been available for - I’m delighted with that.”
Killie produced a fine end to his first campaign to secure their Premiership status before bagging European football and fourth place last term.
While things haven’t quite been as successful this term, the defender admits he’s desperate to repeat that feat and avoid being a top six side for just a single season.
He said: “It’s obviously good to achieve something in one of the seasons but it can’t be just one season. We can’t be known for arriving in the top six once. We want to do it year in, year out.”
To do that, he knows they have to find more consistency and get back to winning ways as they head into their clash with Motherwell sitting just a point above the relegation play-off spot.
READ MORE: Kilmarnock defender admits 'lethargic' side must bounce back from late defeat
He said: “The positive thing about the run of fixtures we’ve got is that there’s no time to dwell on the Ross County result.
“It’s about moving on to the next one and trying to make things right. It was a sloppy game on Sunday, to be honest. There was nothing really between the two teams but we lost a late goal and weren’t really our usual threat.
“We probably didn’t do the basics well enough, which is something we are usually really good at. It was disappointing from that sense.
“I’d imagine the message now will be to go back to basics and the kind of performances we had been putting in at home of late.”
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