Rugby Park is a pretty quiet place right now, with the players enjoying a break away from the pressures of SPL football, but it won’t be too long before they’re donning their training gear again — July 2 to be precise.
Then, two days later, they’ll be heading for the Italian training camp at Il Ciccio for eight days of intense preparation.
Jefferies is still hopeful that he'll have Moroccan midfielder Mehdi Taouil on board the Italian-bound aircraft.
He said: "Mehdi is still on holiday, but I called his agent on Monday to set up a meeting, and hopefully we’ll get things tied up reasonably soon."
Jefferies isn’t expecting too much activity in the ‘new signings’ department over the next few weeks with a mid-close season lull in force.
He said: "There isn’t likely to be much happening in the immediate future. Once players get back into training, you can expect things to start happening again."
Former Gretna player Abdul Osman, who failed to pass a stringent medical, has signed a two-year deal with Northampton Town.
"It’s disappointing how things have turned out", said the Killie gaffer, "but we had no option but to take the advice of our medical people.
"If they advise us against signing a player, we have to abide by that. That’s the reason why players are subjected to medicals.
"Northampton appear to be willing to take a chance with him, but we can’t afford to risk taking a player when our medical experts say that there is a possibility that an injury can reoccur."
Killie have fixed up a pre-season friendly with a second English Championship side at Rugby Park — Coventry City. That’s on Saturday, July 19, a week before Killie face Wolves, also at home.
Pre-season matches have also been arranged against Airdrie and Stenhousemuir — both to be played away from home.
"These games are ideal for fringe players to get them match fit for the new season," said Jefferies.
Even JJ thinks the fixture list looks rather strange compared to normal
Article
