View is worth the climb now

Aaron looks to go fourth and conquer for club & country

- ALAN ROBERTSON

HIS dejection at not making one major tournament sowed the seeds for a return to Rugby Park.

Now Aaron Tshibola admits his desire to make the biggest of them all will fuel his bid to be a Kilmarnock mainstay at the fourth time of asking.

The 31-year-old's career has taken him to Turkey, Cyprus, the UAE and Greece since leaving almost five years ago.

But with scope for a first World Cup for DR Congo in 52 years, familiarity breeds content.

Six of his 16 caps came at the Africa Cup of Nations two years ago, only to miss out on last month's tourney in which DR Congo exited in the last 16.

And that hurt turned out to be a watershed moment as Tshibola - who pulled on Killie colours twice on loan from Aston Villa before another permanent stint - wound his way back.

"One hundred per cent," he said before looking to build on two half-hour cameos against Celtic today.

"I'm at a really important stage in my career. I want to be an important part of a club, an important figure. I believe I can be, I believe I should be.

"At my last club (Levadiakos in Greece) I just did not feel that. Then missing out on the Africa Cup of Nations, being so close and not making the final squad, it definitely hurts.