THE closest Liam Fontaine thought he would get to kicking a ball last weekend was being 17th man for Fulham in their FA Cup tie at Derby County.
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| Fulham defender
Liam Fontaine |
Instead he faced one of Europe's most feared partnerships after completing a move which even now the Englishman can't quite believe.
Centre-half Fontaine, who just turned 19 this month, has signed for Kilmarnock from English Premiership side Fulham until the end of the season.
The England Under-21 international was expecting to lay out the Fulham team's strips at Pride Park.But instead he was fighting for the Killie cause against Chris Sutton and John Hartson when Celtic visited Rugby Park.
Fontaine said: 'My manager Chris Coleman had told me that if I had stayed at Fulham I would probably have been 17th man for the cup tie at Derby - at best he would put me on the bench.
'So to go from that to playing against Hartson and Sutton was just a little bit different.
'It was a great test for me but I wasn't nervous. I've played in the Premiership and find that you raise your game against the very best players.'
Fontaine played for the whole game against Celtic.
....... The Parkhead side felt they had claimed the insurance of a second goal in 64 minutes, Hartson rising above the impressive Liam Fontaine to head in Aiden McGeady’s corner, but the striker’s celebrations were cut short as he was adjudged to have pushed the on-loan Fulham defender in winning the ball. .......
Fontaine is highly rated at Craven Cottage.He spent the first half of this campaign on loan to English League Two leaders Yeovil before making his Fulham debut against Southampton earlier this month.
And the teenager was named man of the match when the Londoners knocked out Watford in the previous round of the FA Cup.
Fulham No.2 Steve Keane recommended him to Jim Jefferies and the defender now has until May to bring some success to Rugby Park.
Fontaine said :'I got a call late last Thursday night from Chris Coleman to tell me that Kilmarnock were interested in taking me on loan.
'He said it would be a great experience for me as nothing is better than first-team football.
'So I made my mind up and said yes, was picked up from my house at six the next morning, got on a plane up here and then it was straight to training. By the end of all that I was knackered.
'I don't know anything about the Scottish game at all or Kilmarnock as a club but so far everyone has treated me really well.
'It was a difficult decision to leave because I had played in the first team recently. But the manager said that some players were coming back from injury and it was better for me to get this experience.