Kilmarnock defender Frazer Wright aims to keep proving the critics wrong as the Ayrshire club seek a fourth consecutive Clydesdale Bank Premier League triumph.
Killie have completed 3-0 victories over Hearts, St Johnstone and Hamilton and will move into the top six if they make it four in a row against Dundee United at Tannadice on Saturday. The run has made Killie one of the surprise packages of the season after a summer of transition.
Wright said: "If we can break into the top six that would be massive, especially with people at the start of the season tipping us for relegation."
Lynchpin Kevin Kyle was among several experienced players to depart but new manager Mixu Paatelainen has blended impressive newcomers such as Alexei Eremenko into an attractive brand of football.
Wright continued: "Any time you picked up a paper in the build-up to the start of the season it was us or St Mirren that were favourites to go down. So hopefully by the end of the season it would be good to prove people wrong.
"When you read it at the time it's a bit annoying because people didn't really know about the boys who were coming in or how the manager was going to play.
"Some of the pre-season games we did well, we were winning games and we drew with Blackpool. You could see the quality the gaffer had brought in so people didn't really know what they were talking about."
As well as bringing in some skilful foreign players, Paatelainen has rejuvenated the likes of striker Conor Sammon, whose 10-goal tally so far this season comfortably beats his total for his first two years at Rugby Park put together.
Wright said: "From the first day the gaffer came in he told us how he wanted us to play. He wanted to pass it on the deck and that's what we've been doing. It's starting to pay off now.
"Before I would never have wanted the ball off the goalkeeper, now we're trying to get it off the goalkeeper all the time and build things from the back. So my game has changed a lot. It's good to be involved in the build-up and maybe start off a move that leads to a goal, so I'm enjoying it."
Source: PA
