Feb 9th 2010...Liam Kelly is just two games away from extending his stay at Kilmarnock for another season.

The midfielder, who scored two goals in the 3-0 Scottish Cup win over Inverness, agreed an 18-month contract in January but the final year would only kick in once he had played a set number of games.

The 19-year-old, who has come through the Rugby Park youth ranks, made his debut in the 0-0 draw at Hamilton last month when he came on for the injured Mark Burchill and has kept his place in Jimmy Calderwood’s side.

Now Kelly is closing in on a year’s extension. ““I signed an 18-month contract last month but the club have an option to terminate the contract if I don’t play a certain amount of games before the end of the season.It’s really a six-month contract with a further year option.

“I’m delighted to have got my chance, it had been a long time coming as I think I’d been on the bench for something like 20 games.”

Calderwood said: “Liam’s been great since coming in. He’s got great energy levels and vision, he gets in and makes tackles and the goals have been an extra. For a young age, he’s shown a lot of maturity.”