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Kilmarnock pin hopes on in-form hitmen

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SCOTTISH football's little and large partnership, Jim McIntyre and Paul Wright, are so deadly right now that you would put your house on them to score the goal that would save your life - and that's just what Kilmarnock are doing this Saturday.

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They have eight million reasons to hope that their bargain buys cash in against Hibs in a crucial Premier Division game at Rugby Park.

Kilmarnock need to win this six-pointer with their relegation rivals to move a step closer to securing their dream home's future and avoid Rugby Park's value plummeting overnight.

The ambitious Ayrshire club have spent GBP8 million revamping the famous old ground into a modern, 18,000 all-seater stadium and were rewarded recently when Scotland used it for their first international fixture there in 87 years. It has been built to host the foreign legion of Premier Division stars, not to end up only a quarter full when First Division opposition come calling.

And that's where McIntyre and Wright come in. The striking duo have been polishing off all-comers during the last six weeks as Kilmarnock have transformed themselves.

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Unbeaten in six games - among the victims were Celtic and Rangers - and still in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup, where they will meet Dundee United in a replay next Tuesday, the side can secure their ambitious investment off the pitch if their GBP600,000 worth of goalscoring talent does the business on it.

Wright, the top scorer with 18 goals this season, has a proven record ever since Alex Ferguson first gave him his debut in 1986 for Aberdeen as a 16-year-old. He has gone on to grab goals galore with QPR, Hibs, St Johnstone and, since his GBP340,000 transfer two years ago, Kilmarnock.

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