Jefferies wary of Butcher effect

05 February 2009 16:13
Caley Thistle halted a losing run of eight successive SPL games last weekend with a goalless draw against Celtic in Butcher's first match in charge.[LNB]Despite their relegation battle, Butcher has vowed to put everything into this weekend's fifth-round clash at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium.[LNB]And Jefferies would not expect anything less from the former England and Rangers skipper.[LNB]Butcher led Motherwell to Hampden three times - once for a final and twice for losing semi-finals - and Jefferies knows his players have to be at their peak to match Inverness for determination.[LNB]"It was a tough draw when it was first made and I think it will be tougher now," Jefferies said.[LNB]"As long as we are aware of that and we are up for it.[LNB]"We will not get away with it if they're not, obviously because of the changes there.[LNB]"At any club, if a new manager comes in, they certainly make an impact for the first couple of weeks. Long term, only time will tell, but certainly in the early weeks.[LNB]"That showed last week when Terry got the maximum out of them and they played very well.[LNB]"They all start from a clean slate trying to impress the new manager."[LNB]Jefferies, who has fitness doubts over Danny Invincibile and Mehdi Taouil, knows from facing Butcher across the dugouts at Motherwell that his teams are never shy of effort.[LNB]"He's a great motivator," the former Hearts manager said.[LNB]"He was a great motivator on the pitch as a player.[LNB]"He will motivate his team to go out there and give everything.[LNB]"We will make sure we do the same. If the two teams are giving 100%, it will be the team on the day who gets the break."[LNB]Jefferies will see Kevin Kyle in action for Killie for the first time after being forced to watch his goalscoring debut in last weekend's 1-1 draw at St Mirren on television as he recuperated from minor surgery.[LNB]Kyle's impressive display has filled Jefferies with enthusiasm for the rest of the season and he refutes claims having the target man in his team will affect their style of play.[LNB]"We'll not get dragged into long balls like some people think," he said.[LNB]"We've got players like (David) Fernandez and Taouil and you're just taking them out the equation.[LNB]"We've got to get it down and play well. We've been doing that and getting to the last third and putting in decent balls, and we've never had anybody on the end of it too much.[LNB]"We have now got someone who thrives on it but he can also hold it up and bring other people into play."[LNB][LNB][LNB]

Source: Team_Talk