Diminutive playmaker Chris Johnston is set to give Kilmarnock’s hopes of survival a boost with his return from long-term injury.

Johnston has made just one first-team appearance this season after picking up a cruciate knee injury back in August.

With shot-shy Killie bagging just one goal in Clark’s six games in charge so far, the return of Johnston’s creativity for the final six matches could hardly be better timed.

He admits that it has been a long road back to first-team action, but he is desperate to do all he can to contribute to the Rugby Park outfit dragging themselves to safety.

“The last six or seven months have been the hardest time I’ve had and it did really affect me,” he said.

“I was missing my football and the team wasn’t doing so great so it was hard to watch.

“A lot of things go through your head at times like that so now that I’m nearly seeing the end of the tunnel it’s good.

“The thoughts that can go through your head while you’re out are really negative.

“Because the team aren’t doing great and you want to be out there helping the boys but can’t do anything about it is really frustrating.

“I’m confident that if I was out there playing I’d be creating chances for the likes of Josh Magennis so it was hard to watch helplessly from the stand.

“I’ve never had injuries before, this was my first serious injury. I spoke to people at the start who warned me it was going to be very hard and they were right.

“It’s always in your head that you might not be the same after the injury but you can’t let that hold you back. So you try not to think about it.

“There’s going to be days when it’s still sore, but you have to realise that these wee niggles are nothing serious. If I start thinking about it then it’s going to affect my performance.

“I’ve got to believe that it’s not going to go again so be committed to every tackle.”

Johnston is hoping he may be able to make the bench for today’s crucial match with St Johnstone, but he has faith in his teammates to get the results they need to steer clear of the danger zone regardless.

He said: “If I can get back in the team before the end of this season and help Killie stay up that would make all the hard work and rehab worthwhile.

“But we are really confident that we are going to stay up. The changing room has been positive because we know the quality we have in there.

“If we win our next six games we are safe. Simple as that.”