Fowler feels no pain back in Killie fold.

Byline: EWING GRAHAME

FEW could claim James Fowler was anything other than a team player as he soldiered on in agony last season to help Kilmarnock through an injury crisis even though he was himself in dire need of a hernia operation.

Playing through the pain barrier, he managed to postpone surgery until August, by which time Killie's treatment room was less cluttered. Now, even though he is still at the stage in his recovery where doctors won't allow him to perform sit-ups, he is back in Jim Jefferies' first team.

Fowler, in his 13th season at Rugby Park, turns 29 on Monday and a win bonus at home to St Johnstone would be an ideal birthday present.

'I'd had the problem for over a year,' he said. 'There was some pain there but it wasn't stopping me from training or playing, although it probably held me back a little bit because you can't quite play to your full potential or do yourself justice.

'We also had a lot of players out at that time. Our physio decided I should just carry on until I couldn't play any more.

'The annoying thing is that I reached that stage after doing all the hard work in pre-season. We didn't have too many players out at that point so we decided I should have the operation then rather than take our chances later in the season.

'A few of our lads - Alan Combe, Frazer Wright and Kevin Kyle - had the same op at the end of last season but it wasn't troubling me too much at that time. Maybe it was having a break and then getting back to the intensity of double sessions at preseason which made it get worse. 'Now I have to do extra work in the gym on my core strength, although I'm not allowed to do sit-ups in case I end up with a double hernia.' Just four goals separate the two teams in the table and Fowler anticipates a difficult afternoon against Derek McInnes' side.

'We watched the first half of their match against Rangers before we played Hibs and they did really well, especially when they hit them on the break," he said.

'They don't have as many points as their performances probably deserve but - like us - they haven't been scoring enough goals or keeping enough clean sheets.

'However, they haven't looked out of place since they came up. Midfield is probably their strongest area and, in Jody Morris, they have someone who's played at the highest level.

'We're the home side, though, and we have players like Kevin Kyle and Mark Burchill coming back so we'll be looking for the win.

'It's important that we don't rely on our strikers for goals. The rest of the team needs to start chipping in, whether it's from set-pieces or whatever.

'We've scored just six goals in the league so we need to do better and, if we can open the scoring against St Johnstone, it will give us something to hold on to.' St Johnstone boss McInnes takes his men to Kilmarnock knowing the next fortnight will be crucial to their season.

He watched his side outplay champions Rangers for long spells in last week's 2-1 defeat at McDiarmid Park. However, it is the coming fixtures against Killie today and Falkirk next week in Perth that will have a greater bearing on their final destiny.

Prior to embarking on their first SPL season for seven years, McInnes outlined to his players the target of winning battles against clubs in the lower half.

And, while he acknowledges the excellent job done by Jim Jefferies at Rugby Park, he feels today's match and next week's Falkirk clash are definitely winnable.

'It is important not to look too far ahead but the fixtures in the next fortnight have fallen a bit kinder to us than so far.

'With no disrespect to Kilmarnock or Falkirk, these are two games against sides traditionally in the bottom six.

'That alone means nothing if we don't perform at the standard required to win the games but, if we play the way we can and we are positive, then they will have to play very well to beat us.

'Last week against Rangers, I felt we were the better side for the majority of the game and I could not fault any of the players for their efforts.

'We showed we can compete against the best and if we can maintain that level today against Kilmarnock, I feel we are capable of getting a result.'

CAPTION(S):

Foot soldier: Fowler will do anything for the Killie cause; (left) McInnes