Chris McKee programme article
Posted : 22nd November 2022
Fresh from opening his account for the season with the opening goal in Linfield’s 2-0 win over Ballymena United at the Showgrounds last week, young Linfield forward Chris McKee told ‘Look at Linfield’ in this week’s exclusive interview that it gave him a confidence boost that he hopes will help him kick on and nail down a spot in the team.
“It has been a bit of a slow start for myself in terms of goals since the start of the season but I have just tried to keep my head down, keep working hard and when I do get my opportunities, I have to take them. Thankfully, I was able to stick one in the net against Ballymena last week which I was buzzing with and hope it’ll be the first of many this season.
“When you’re a striker, goals bring confidence and to get the goal against Ballymena has given me a big boost of confidence. The most important thing though is always that the team gets the three points and I’m more than happy to do whatever the team needs and if I score, then that’s a bonus.
“Match fitness comes by playing games and, having started the last three matches against Glenavon, Glentoran and Ballymena, it has given me a wee bit of momentum and I am feeling sharper and fitter by the match, so fingers crossed, I can deliver the goods to keep myself in the eleven.”
“I think we’ve won six of our last seven games, so let’s hope that can continue. The matches continue to come thick and fast and it’s important that we continue that trend of building momentum and hopefully, we can start to claw back points on the top two.
“Larne are a great side, but so are we. I don’t think anyone should be writing us off this early and our current form is proof of that. I don’t think Europe impacted us at all – we had a great European run and were very unfortunate the way it ended, but it’s all in the past and we moved on, because you can’t sit around feeling sorry for yourself.
“The basics here are to work hard and stay grounded and then do what the management tells us to do, in terms of our roles and responsibilities and this approach has helped us bounce back from the defeat that occurred the last time we played Larne. We are into a cup final already, and hopefully, before Christmas we can put ourselves in another one and in the League, we just need to continue to do what we’re doing at the moment.”
The 20 year-old Northern Ireland U21 International joined Linfield initially on loan in January and his six goals in the second half of the season helped the Blues win a world-record 56th title, before then rejoining on a permanent two-year contract in the summer and he’s loving life at his boyhood club where he feels it is a great place to develop as a player.
“It’s great, playing here with very experienced players and a lot of good young players who are just a bit older than me, so we’ve a good mix and it’s fantastic for me to learn and develop. The Irish League has come on such a long way since I was a kid and it’s a great League for developing and I hope that if I can keep playing games, I can continue to improve.
“If I am playing up front in this team, no matter who is playing off me, they all will bring something different to the game. Kirk Millar, for example, has a great delivery, so I know that once he gets the ball, I must take up a position in the box, and whoever it is playing behind or wide of me, I just need to look into who it is and make my movement off what they do. We have a real diverse skillset across our attacking options, which is brilliant.”
Well done to Chris on an important opening goal of the season at Ballymena last week and hopefully, it’ll be the first of many more to come for the popular young man from Carrickfergus.