Aberdeen 2-1 Kilmarnock: 'We had to dig it out' - Derek McInnes

Aberdeen remain just one point behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes praised the desire of his team as they cut the gap at the top of the Premiership back to one point.

Goals from Ash Taylor and Shay Logan saw off Kilmarnock, who had equalised through Josh Magennis, to match Celtic's earlier win at Firhill.

"You've got to credit Kilmarnock. They showed enough attacking threat to suggest the game was never comfortable," said McInnes.

"We had to dig it out."

McInnes continued: "At the goal both Shay Logan and Graeme Shinnie, my two full backs, are both three yards from the goal. It shows real determination to make sure the result goes our way."

Aberdeen's last seven league wins have come by virtue of just a single goal cushion, and the Aberdeen boss admits he would prefer his side made things more comfortable as they bid to end the Old Firm's 31-year grip on the league title.

However, he insists his Dons' attitude cannot be questioned.

He told BBC Scotland: "There's more focus and spotlight on the team at the minute, but if you look back over the last three years the players have been doing that; late winners, coming from behind, seeing games out. They've done that consistently.

"I would just like us to enjoy the game more, get the second goal, and not give the opposition too much encouragement.

"I thought Kilmarnock did well in periods of the game. I thought we were better for longer periods, therefore I thought we deserved to win the game."

Kilmarnock manager Lee Clark has yet to win since taking the Rugby Park reins

Kilmarnock manager Lee Clark saw enough from his team to remain confident they can move up the Premiership table, but felt his players lacked confidence in the first 45 minutes.

"I feel we wasted the first half because we played with too much fear," said Clark. "I had more belief in the players than they had in themselves.

"In the second half we played with aggression - with and without the ball - and we caused them numerous problems. We're disappointed we didn't get something from the game.

"I've still got 100% confidence and believe that we'll be fine and get out of the situation because in general the performance has been good. But, we need points over performances.

"There's been improvement without a shadow of a doubt. We've come here and took on a team who potentially could be champions in a couple of months, we've run them close and given them a real fright, especially in the second half."