Jason Kerr is eyeing up his third trophy in 12 months.
But the Wigan Athletic defender joked that even if he adds a League One winners’ medal to his St Johnstone double, catching a cat will be the defining moment of his first season in English football!
A cat that had found its way on to Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough pitch when Wigan were playing there and the video of Kerr taking great care to get it out of harm’s way went viral.
“I couldn’t believe the reaction to it,” he said.
A cat ran on the pitch at Hillsborough tonight and Wigan’s Jason Kerr gave it a little tickle before carefully helping it off. Not kicked pic.twitter.com/3Blp9zVDWV
— Jack Kenmare (@jackkenmare_) February 8, 2022
“We were losing to Sheffield Wednesday and I’d just been brought on as a sub.
“We were chasing the game and I just saw this cat running onto the pitch.
“I definitely wasn’t thinking about the whole Kurt Zouma thing. It was more about the game and getting it off the pitch quickly so I could to hurry up the game.
“The gentle approach seemed to do the trick!
“People were asking me ‘why did you wave at the cat as it was being taken away?’ I didn’t even realise that I had!
“It had been missing for about six months and after it was taken to the vets it was reunited with its owner.
“I think a GoFundMe page covered all the costs of an operation it needed to its neck.
“Even if we win the league that will be the highlight of my season!”
Patience paid off
Wigan are strong favourites to get promoted to the Championship as title-winners and are top with four games left to play.
And Kerr has been getting more league starts in the last couple of months than in the first few after his deadline day move from McDiarmid Park.
“When I joined the boys were flying and I had an injury,” he said.
“I couldn’t have any complaints about not getting into the team in the league because the team was going so well.
“I had to bide my time, be patient and be professional.
“There are so many games down here that I knew I needed to be ready for when my chance came and it was good to be involved in the cup games.
“When I was only playing in cup games or coming off the bench I didn’t think I was at my best, and my confidence wasn’t high, but my confidence has risen a lot recently and I’ve been happy with my performances.”
Scottish Cup 2020/21 champions ⚽️🏆
A cup double for St Johnstone! pic.twitter.com/D0931RQ2Y7
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) May 22, 2021
And the man who lifted two trophies with Saints could soon be getting his hands on silverware again.
“I don’t want to jinx it but, yeah, that’s definitely the target,” he said.
“If we can keep grinding out results, I’m sure we’ll get to where we want to be.
“Winning the title is the aim.
“It’s in our hands.
“For me personally, it would obviously be great to get my hands on trophy after everything we achieved last season.”
Ali McCann won’t be a sub for long
With the centre-back now at the heart of Wigan’s promotion bid, the Northern Ireland international has been a substitute far more than a starter at Preston in recent months.
Kerr believes it’s just a matter of time before that changes.
“Ali’s been in and out like I was at the start of the season,” said Kerr.
“The Championship is obviously a higher level and he’ll want to be getting more minutes.
“We’ve met a couple of times and Liam Craig came down – we all got together then.
“I’m sure he’ll be back in soon. Nothing will faze him and you can guarantee he’ll just be getting his head down and working hard in training.
“We all know the quality he’s got. I’m sure he’ll be a mainstay of the Preston team in no time.”
