Tommy Wright believes keeping Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership would rank alongside any of his achievements in coaching.
Killie have taken one point from five games since the former St Johnstone Scottish Cup-winning boss took over and remain bottom ahead of Saturday’s visit of Motherwell.
But Wright is convinced there is enough quality in his squad to get them out of trouble in the final six matches of the season.
“I knew it was going to be tough when I took the job,” he said. “I believed then I could do enough to keep us in this league and I still believe that.
“The enormity of the job now with the position we are in is massive.
“If we can do it, and that’s the aim, it will rank up with any achievements I have had in management/coaching.”
Killie have now taken only one point from a possible 30 and Wright could not deny the job was even harder than he first imagined.
“That would be a fair assumption, because in the games we maybe haven’t done enough over 90 minutes but also made basic errors which have cost us, and made mistakes that I don’t see Monday to Friday, just lapses of concentration,” he said.
“The training has been of high quality every day, I never come away thinking ‘they could do that better’.
“But what they have not been able to do is get over the line and defend at right moments in games when we have had to, and take advantage of the amount of possession we have had in games, because we have dominated all the games bar the Rangers game.
“The fact we haven’t won since I have taken over obviously makes it harder than it was because we have less games.”
One major positive has been the form of Wright’s only signing, Kyle Lafferty. The Northern Ireland striker hit the bar and had a goal disallowed on his first start against Dundee United before hitting a double in a 3-2 defeat by Ross County.
“We have got into good areas and if we can keep getting into those areas and supplying Kyle, I think he will score more goals,” Wright said.
“He has been a lift to the other strikers. When they do finishing sessions he has brought the standards up and helped them.
“He is an absolute nightmare to manage on a daily basis but I think everybody knows that with Kyle. You can’t turn your back on him for one second, he’s up to something.
“And that’s a good thing because he has added another wee edge to the spirit of the camp.”
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