Former Hearts manager excited by star signed from Jambos as he admits 'wouldn't like to play against him'

St Johnstone's MacKenzie Kirk with manager Craig Levein | SNS Group

Craig Levein says teams won’t like playing against Makenzie Kirk after signing the young striker from Hearts.

The forward has been a regular goal-getter for the Jambos ‘B’ team in the Lowland League. He makes the move to Perth with former Tynecastle manager Levein, who has also signed ex-Hearts forward Uche Ikpeazu this summer. Kirk debuted on Saturday in a 2-0 Premier Sports Cup group stage win against Morton.

With Benji Kimpioka, Adama Sidibeh, Stevie May and Nicky Clark amongst Levein’s forward options, he says Kirk is one star who teams will not relish coming up against after being surprised his debut wasn’t marked with a goal against Dougie Imrie’s side. Levein said: "There's an intense competition for places in the front line now, so you have to play well if you are to stay in the team.

“With Benji, the. penny has dropped a little bit there and he realises that. I like strikers to be getting those type of goals like his second one, it shows they are alive in there.

“Adama has had some extra time off, he's still miles off it. But we got him some more game time, and hopefully we get him back to where he was at the tail end of last season.

“We still have Nicky and Uche to come back. Makenzie also showed a bit of what he's capable of. I thought he would have scored today. His finishing is usually excellent. I certainly wouldn't like to play against him, Benji or Adama."