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Skipper committed to the cause
Kilmarnock, 15:11, August 17, 2009 ,
Kevin Kyle admits he was close to missing Kilmarnock's opening day win over Hamilton but decided to play through the pain.
The former Sunderland and Coventry frontman had been struggling with a stomach muscle strain during pre-season and was rated doubtful in the run-up to the opener.
But Kyle gave Jim Jefferies the thumbs up and the manager was delighted he did, as the Scotland international bagged a brace to help Killie to a 3-0 home success.
The striker admitted: "I only started training last Monday and even on Thursday this week I was thinking of telling the gaffer I couldn't get through 90 minutes and I'd be struggling.
"But I'm the captain, I'm supposed to go out there and do my bit for the team, so when I woke up on the morning of the game, I thought, 'Nah, I'm playing - whether it's 20 minutes or five minutes, I want to be out there', because of the thought of a goal."