BY ALAN TEMPLE – Capital City Press
St Mirren starlet Stephen Mallan is drawing inspiration from the progress of Kenny McLean as he plots his own path to the top.
The 19-year-old illuminated an underwhelming affair at Almondvale with the only goal of a 1-0 win over Livingston on Saturday, picking the ball up 30 yards out and producing a wonderful drive beyond Marc McCallum.
Mallan is evidently relishing the responsibility of filling the creative void left by McLean, who joined Aberdeen in a £300,000 switch in February after 152 appearances and 24 goals for the Buddies.
“Kenny came through the youth academy as well and I am trying to emulate what he did,” said Mallan. “He was such a good role model for the club, coming through the ranks and scoring a lot of goals.
“He did well and got himself a move so hopefully I’m the next one to do that.
“Kenny was always helping us during training and because I was a similar position to Kenny he was always helping me through.
“He was a good person to learn from, from the things he could do with the ball, running, defensively and his work-rate as well. I’m just trying to copy what he did and add my own personal things as well.”
