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By KEVIN MCKENNA Published: 05: 10 AEST, 23 August 2025 | Updated: 05: 51 AEST, 23 August 2025 View comments Six appearances, four goals, one assist. They are the kind of stats most strikers would bite your hand off for, never mind an 18-year-old wing-back playing out of position. Enjoy Ben Brannan while you can, Kilmarnock fans. He might not be around much longer. While some Rugby Park diehards will claim they saw the academy graduate’s rise to the top coming a mile off, few could have truthfully predicted just how quickly it’s happened. Even Inverness Caley Thistle supporters — who got a good look at him while he was on loan in the Highlands during the second half of last season —couldn’t have seen it coming this soon. And as for the rest of us? Let’s be honest, the name meant very little a couple of months ago. We certainly know all about him now. His volley against Hibernian on matchday two of the new Premiership campaign was frankly ridiculous. Ben Brannan has been a revelation since making his first-team debut at the start of this season Footage of his goal against Hibernian at Easter Road this month went viral on social media Kilmarnock boss Stuart Kettlewell will give the 18-year-old plenty of time to develop The assist for Marcus Dackers in last weekend’s impressive Premier Sports Cup last-16 win at the expense of Dundee United was sublime, too. Pinging a 40-yard arrow from your own half straight on to a striker’s right foot takes some doing. Goodness knows what he’s got up his sleeve for Dundee when Steven Pressley’s side rock up in Ayrshire this afternoon. One thing’s for sure, he’ll be one of the first names on Stuart Kettlewell’s team sheet. Brannan couldn’t have asked for a better manager to play for. When it comes to promoting young players, the former Motherwell boss is as passionate as they come. Lennon Miller is a case in point. Under Kettlewell, the 18-year-old went from a starlet to star in double-quick time. Kid to captain.   While the £4. 5million fee Udinese paid for his services earlier this month may have smashed the Fir Park club’s transfer record, it may just transpire that the Serie A outfit got a bargain. Of course, it helps when you have the talent to boot. But Miller was given an opportunity to play, learn, and — importantly — make mistakes. Brannan will make plenty of them this season, by the way. Lennon Miller got a move from Motherwell to Udinese after cutting his teeth in the Premiership Team-mate David Watson knows that all too well. He scooped up the awards after enjoying a brilliant breakthrough season in 2023-24, and was expected to kick on last year under Derek Mc Innes. But while his performances hardly fell off a cliff, Mc Innes decided both Watson and the team would be better off if he was taken out of the starting XI for a period in the new year. He took that on the chin, did what he could to impress from the bench, and eventually forced himself back into the team towards the business end of the season.   Indeed, he played a big part in the club’s successful survival bid, and has already been a standout in Killie’s unbeaten start this season. Brannan — who signed a new deal with the club which ties him down until 2028 — will undoubtedly face similar disappointment over the coming months. How he deals with it will either make or break him. Mc INNES AND HEARTS AIM TO BOUNCE BACK Derek Mc Innes failed his first big test in Paisley last weekend. His perfect start to life in the Hearts dugout came to an abrupt end courtesy of a somewhat surprising Premier Sports Cup penalty shoot-out defeat against St Mirren. Until then, he had it pretty much all his own way. His team had been playing well, creating chances, scoring goals, winning. Hearts were knocked out of the Premier Sports Cup last 16 by St Mirren last weekend Make no mistake, this was an opportunity to land some silverware. To his credit, he shouldered the blame. Mc Innes has unquestionably restored some much-needed positivity around the club following last year’s shambles under Neil Critchley. One bad day won’t be enough to knock him off his stride. Back-to-back losses might cause a wobble, mind you. The Steelmen have yet to taste defeat under new manager Jens Berthel Askou, who has taken no time at all to instill his free-flowing style on the squad. It will be interesting to see if he gets the chance to splash some of that Miller cash before the transfer window shuts. Reinforcements at the top end of the park are a must if they are to continue their fine start. DEFLATED AYR LOOK TO ARREST THE SLIDE  It’s hard to work out what exactly has gone wrong at Ayr United of late. A stellar Premier Sports Cup run to kick off the new campaign had fans dreaming of a trip to Hampden and another promotion push after falling just short last time out. Ayr United manager Scott Brown has been left frustrated after his side's slump in form However, since Jamie Murphy gave them a fifth-minute lead at Arbroath on the Championship opening night, they have been brutal.   Scott Brown’s men were fortunate to get away with a draw on that occasion. Defeats to Raith Rovers and Partick Thistle — which ended their cup run — have piled the pressure on the manager. There’s no doubt the natives are getting restless. Ayr will make the short trip up the road to Morton this afternoon expecting a big improvement.

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