Kilmarnock skipper Stevie Smith has urged the young English recruits that were brought to the club in the summer to make a name for themselves against Celtic after the international break.

Manager Lee Clark brought in a host of players on loan from the fringes of English sides or on free contracts after being released from clubs south of the border as he looked to rebuild his Killie team.

It is a well-worn cliché that when players arrive at provincial clubs in Scotland from elsewhere that they cite games against the Old Firm as an attraction, but Smith has challenged his teammates to seize their chance in front of a wider audience than normal.

“It’s a big one, it’s going to be on the TV on a Friday night,” Smith said. “These are the games that I’d imagine all of these players from England have come up to play in, they are the big games where you can go and put a big performance in and people sit up and take notice of you if you do.

“We’ve lost a few goals to the bigger sides in the league, especially at home, and I think the Aberdeen one was sore to take especially.

“When Celtic come hopefully the manager can come up with a gameplan and we can get a positive result.

“The Hearts game gives us a wee bit of hope because you know that if you put in the hard work and you follow the manager’s gameplan then you can get a result against the bigger teams, especially at home.

“We’re looking forward to it, but first I’m looking to a few days off to be honest with you.”

Smith’s need for respite is partly due to a dead leg that he played through for an hour in the goalless home draw with Hamilton on Saturday.

Anyone who was at the game though would probably fancy a break from football after enduring a 90 minutes with plenty of missed opportunities, and very little quality.

“Even playing in the game I didn’t enjoy it,” said Smith. “It didn’t feel great, the pressing wasn’t great and there was a few things missing.

“It just wasn’t an enjoyable game to take part in, I’m sure it wasn’t an enjoyable watch either, and I’m sure it will be last on all the highlights programmes.

“Both teams had chances, but I don’t think we did enough to win it, so at the end of the day if you don’t win it you make sure you don’t lose it and I think both teams settled for that at the end.

“It’s good to have the break now but it would have been a lot better had we got three points.”

Kilmarnock missed a chance to move into the top six with the draw, and Smith admits that such opportunities seem to inhibit his side when they present themselves.

In the end, he was relieved to get even a point after Killie keeper Jamie MacDonald had to pull off a fine save from a sweetly-hit Massimo Donati volley right at the death.

“That point could be huge, but in games like this at home we shouldn’t have to be relying on Jamie,” he said.

“We know he is a great keeper, but we have to be on the front foot and be braver in these sort of games and try to win them.

“Since I’ve been here there’s been a few chances to get into the top six and every time it comes around, we don’t freeze, but it feels like there’s no freedom to our play.

“When we’re playing teams like Hamilton at home we need to be looking to go and win the game because we’re really disappointed with a point.

“You’ve got give a bit of credit to Hamilton, they changed their formation to a three at the back and made it difficult for us.

“When we’ve got a chance to take that step forward though we don’t seem to be able to take it, and the manager said that to us after the game that he’s frustrated as well."