Sammon scored his 16th goal of the season in the draw with St Johnstone

Kilmarnock striker Conor Sammon has declined the chance to join Championship side Scunthorpe United.

The 24-year-old held talks with Iron manager Ian Baraclough after Kilmarnock accepted an offer for the Irishman.

"He liked everything about the club but didn't feel it was the right time for him to be moving on," Baraclough told his club website.

"He says he is happy at Kilmarnock and feels there is more development to come," said manager Mixu Paatelainen.

However, after the player rejected a deal that would have earned Killie around £450,000, Paatelainen warned: "I would not be surprised if other clubs were interested in him."

The former Derry City player has scored 16 goals this season but will be on the bench for Tuesday's league clash with Hearts after his discussions with Scunthorpe.

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"He phoned to say he wasn't going to Scunthorpe and was there any chance of being involved against Hearts," revealed Paatelainen.

"I was delighted to hear that and said yes straight away."

Killie have lost Chelsea left-back Ben Gordon after the London club decided to send him on loan to Scunthorpe when he recovers from injury, following a successful five-month spell at Rugby Park.

And the season-long loan for influential midfielder Alexei Eremenko could end this month if Metalist Kharkiv decide to sell the playmaker.

But Kilmarnock have recruited Benjamin Laurant, Billy Berntsson, William Gros and Anssi Jaakola this month.

Former Republic of Ireland Under-21 international Sammon began his career with University College Dublin before moving to Derry City.

He switched to Kilmarnock for an undisclosed fee in summer 2008, scoring seven goals in his first two seasons at Rugby Park before becoming more prolific this term.

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