Kilmarnock winger Jordan Jones says he was glad to see the back of the January transfer window as speculation regarding his future had affected his performances on the pitch.

A strong start to the campaign saw the English attacker become sought after by a number of clubs, with Rangers amongst those showing interest.

The Ibrox club tabled a bid for the 23-year-old in January but it was thrown out by their Rugby Park counterparts.

Jones says he struggled to deal with the attention that was coming his way, but was happy to stay at Killie after a sit down with manager Steve Clarke.

Asked how he had handled the Rangers rumours, Jones said: "I think my performances dipped because of everything that was going on in the press.


"I've never really been in that situation, next time I'll be able to handle it better.

"I sat down with the gaffer in January and we agreed this was the best place for me.

"He's been brilliant with me so far, he's helped me through it.

"I don't think there is a manager in Scotland I could learn more off than Steve Clarke.

"Once the window shut, I just put it to the back of my head and tried to prove why teams are looking."

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Jones added: "It had never really happened to me before, when I left Middlesbrough there wasn't a whole lot of teams looking at me.

"Going from that to having a lot of teams linked with you in the press, it's draining in a way.


"You are getting told things and it's hard to just concentrate on your football.

"When January was done with I was actually delighted as I could just concentrate on my football."

"I think Hibs are probably the hardest team we've played, as a team.

"When we played them at home we done really well but got beat 3-0 and then away I thought they were very hard to beat."