DEREK MCINNES is looking for Kilmarnock to build on their impressive showing last week against Dundee United – starting with a win versus Inverness.
Killie welcome their promotion rivals to Rugby Park tomorrow in what will be McInnes’ fourth game in charge.
They may have exited the Scottish Cup at the hands of United last weekend, but the Ayrshire side were very unlucky and dominated large spells of the game.
The fans clearly bought in to what they were seeing and that’s something McInnes wants to see more and more of between now and the end of the campaign.
He said: "There's certainly a lot of willingness from the players and eagerness. They are a good set of lads - I've enjoyed working with them.
"Playing at Rugby Park has been a wee bit of an issue this season. I think the way the supporters responded to the team and the way the team responded to the support is what I'm looking for a lot more between now and the end of the season. I want that synergy there. That really helps the crowd and they've got to help us too.
"Hopefully we can have something similar on Saturday but with a positive result.
"No team has ever been successful or won a title without having a strong home record.
"We are not a million miles away in terms of where we are as a team, but there clearly needs to be improvements to have the confidence to go on and win the league.
"I thought the players really enjoyed the game on Saturday, there was an anticipation for it, I want the players to relish 3pm on a Saturday both home and away, but particularly at home when we can try and utilise a strong home support.
"It's important that we give the fans something to engage with, on Saturday being applauded off the park despite losing, there were positives to take.
“I think every game is important now, we are getting to that part of the season where you're playing teams around you and you have the chance to get three points whilst dealing damage to the opposition.
"But Inverness will be seeing it exactly the same, I have seen them in the flesh a few times this season and I am really impressed with the work Doddsy has done.
"I know they haven't won a lot of games of late, but they haven't lost a lot either. They got off to a flyer at the start of the season and you can see why.”
Killie welcome Brad Lyons and Jason Naismith back to the squad, while Innes Cameron and Scott Robinson are doubts, with Chris Stokes out.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here