Jacobs stokes boilers in Livi engine room

Jan 8 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

KEAGHAN Jacobs returned to the starting line-up for Livingston last weekend and gave his boss plenty to think about with a superb performance.

The 19-year-old midfielder has been on the periphery of the first team all season but with Rocco Quinn heading back to Celtic, Jacobs was handed a chance at the hub of the Lions boiler room.

He is an excellent passer, long or short, and capable of breaking deep behind enemy lines with his runaway surges.

And the South African-born teen is deceptively strong for a player of such slight build.

Jacobs snapped into tackles and tracked midfield runners all day but he had his heart in his mouth when he marred his return by conceding a penalty.

Simon Lynch’s spot-kick was brilliantly blocked by Roddy McKenzie but Jacobs insists it should never have been given.

He said: “Roddy dug me out of a hole but to be honest it was never a penalty.

“I got the ball so it was a harsh decision but at the end of the day it is what the referee sees that counts.”

Jacobs burst onto the Livingston scene last season grabbing a debut goal in the Scottish Cup against Alloa prompting comparisons from his former boss Mark Proctor to his namesake — England and Liverpool legend Kevin Keegan.

He made a handful of appearances as a winger but the teenager admits he is happy to play anywhere.

“I don’t mind where I play as long as I’m in the team,” he continued. “All I want to do is try and get on the ball and help the team as best I can.

“I was delighted to get back into the team and, hopefully, I did enough to impress the manager and keep my place for next week.

“I thought I played really well and got myself involved in the game early on.”

Jacob’s path to the first team has been blocked this season by Liam Fox and loan star Rocco Quinn.

But an injury to Fox and a return to Parkhead for Quinn has given him a chance to stake a claim for a regular berth and it is a chance he is determined to grasp.

“I knew Rocco’s loan was up this week so I hoped I’d be in the running for a start but I didn’t know for definite until Saturday morning when the manager read out the team.

“The gaffer knows what I can do so, hopefully, I can hold onto the jersey and keep my place in the team until the end of the season.

“We have fighting spirit in the team so even when we went into the last few minutes a goal behind I knew we were capable of getting a goal back and we proved it with another goal from Callum [Elliot].

“If we could get Callum back it’d be great but that might be something we’re not able to do.

“So we have to dig deep with the players we already have in the squad.”