Paul Sheerin expects Derek McInnes to be in mix for end of season awards
Paul Sheerin expects Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes to be in the mix for end-of-season awards after his surprise at seeing none of the club's players make it into the Professional Footballers' Association of Scotland Team of the Year.
The Ayrshire side are currently fourth in the cinch Premiership and have the chance to secure a top-five finish and guarantee European football when they host Hearts on Saturday.
Given the strides Killie have made after battling relegation in their first season back in the top flight last term, assistant boss Sheerin is confident McInnes will be firmly in the running when the various shortlists for manager of the year are drawn up.
"Definitely," he said. "Between Aberdeen and now, the gaffer has continually built squads season after season to compete at the top level in the Scottish Premiership, and I think he's proven that again this season.
"I'd be surprised if he wasn't recognised at some stage. As a club we're punching above our weight and that's credit to the manager.
"He's got huge experience now and has seen a fair bit over his years in management but he's always got that desire to improve which rubs off on his players and his staff.
"We all want to be better as individuals and he's constantly demanding that, which can only help the club going forward."
Despite Kilmarnock's progress this year, they had no representation in PFA Scotland's Premiership Team of the Year, which was announced last weekend.
It was made up of seven players from Celtic and Rangers, plus Aberdeen's Bojan Miovski, Dundee's Owen Beck, Hearts' Lawrence Shankland and Motherwell's Theo Bair.
Sheerin admitted he was "slightly surprised".
"Obviously you sit here from a biased point of view and there are certain players who have showed good numbers and you probably think could have been recognised but you understand that there's a lot of good quality in Scotland and that these are all down to opinions," he said.
"Our opinion of that squad would be pretty biased."
Kilmarnock can seal their European place this weekend if they beat Hearts and Dundee lose at home to Celtic the following day.
"It's just about making sure we get over the line as quickly as we can," said Sheerin.
"It will be a huge achievement because if you look back to where we were at this time last season, we were right in the thick of it, looking in the wrong direction.
"To achieve Europe on the back of where we were last season would be excellent for the club."
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