Former Arsenal striker Tyreece John-Jules has hit a rich vein of form, providing his seventh goal contribution in four games during Sunday’s clash with Celtic.
Ex-Arsenal academy striker Tyreece John-Jules was back training with the north London club earlier this season as he searched for a new team as a free agent, but he’s come a long way since then.
His search ended in October, as Kilmarnock FC offered him a short-term contract until January. They’ve since extended that deal until the end of the season.
The club’s faith in John-Jules has certainly been rewarded, and over the past seven days he’s scored a hat-trick in a 4-3 win over St. Mirren and provided a goal and an assist against Scottish heavyweights Celtic.
The only concern is on the injury front, as the striker had to be substituted late in the Celtic game. It remains to be seen if the problem is anything serious, but it didn’t look too encouraging.
Considering Kilmarnock sit just one position off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership and at risk of relegation, John-Jules’ eight goals and two assists for the team are a very solid return.
The 25-year-old hitting double figures for goal contributions is also a big milestone, as he didn’t manage the same during any of his previous spells with the senior teams at Crawley Town, Ipswich Town, Doncaster Rovers, Derby County, Blackpool, Lincoln City, Sheffield Wednesday, or Arsenal.
The best John-Jules had managed previously was eight goal contributions in Doncaster, and the most appearances he’d managed was 27 at Crawley. With 10 goals and assists in 19 games for Kilmarnock, this looks to be his best season in senior football so far.
John-Jules was relatively prolific in the Arsenal youth teams, with 21 goals and assists in 26 games for the u18s, and 27 in 45 for the Arsenal u23s.
If he can start finding that kind of form in the senior game, Kilmarnock will be desperate to offer him a long-term deal this summer. They may not be the only ones.
But the chances of such a run will now depend on his injury assessments in the coming days.