Jim Jefferies says he could move again for Bas Savage in the summer after the former Kilmarnock trialist agreed a short-term move to Millwall.The 26-year-old English targetman was handed a recent chance to impress at Killie after turning down a new contract with Brighton, but Jefferies wanted Savage to return to Scotland for a second trial before deciding whether to offer a contract.

Millwall stepped in and signed Savage this week, but he has only joined the Lions until the end of the season, when Jefferies could make a fresh offer.

"The ball was certainly in his court," said Jefferies. "After seeing him play in a reserve game, we felt he was just that little bit short of being awarded a contract.

"Maybe the reason for that was he'd not played a first-team game since Boxing Day.

"We had said that if he was prepared to come up and spend a couple of weeks and play another reserve game or two, maybe he could have won himself a contract.

"But he maybe wasn't wanting to do that. I couldn't sign him based on what I saw. He didn't do enough for us to gamble like that.

"He's signed for Millwall until the end of the season so we'll keep an eye on his situation and who knows for next season?

"We're always taking in games and getting phone calls about this player or that player."

Kilmarnock have the chance to effectively kill off Gretna's lingering survival hopes when the bottom two meet at Fir Park on Wednesday.

Sunday's 3-1 win against Aberdeen allowed Killie to pull 12 points clear of Gretna, and Jefferies is already targeting a top-eight finish, which will require to Ayrshire side to keep winning over the coming weeks.

But he does not expect a game which purists might enjoy against Gretna, given the state of the Fir Park pitch.

Motherwell boss Mark McGhee claimed it was "impossible" to play fluent passing football on the cut-up, rain-affected surface after his team's weekend defeat to Hearts.

With heavy rain affecting Scotland already this week, the state of the pitch will almost certainly be a factor again on Wednesday.

Jefferies admitted: "It doesn't look promising. It's not the best of pitches and I don't think it can take too much, given that on Saturday it was like a quagmire through the middle.

"To be fair to Gretna, like ourselves they like to get the ball down and pass it.

"Sometimes on a pitch like that you can get the wee break of a ball or a misplaced pass because it's bumpy and bobbly. We've just got to do the right things and not take any chances in bad areas.

"Tomorrow's all about winning. No matter how bad you play you can always blame that on the pitch."

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