Kilmarnock

Sandy Armour
Fan writer

It's been an inconsistent last couple of weeks for Killie.

We briefly climbed the table before quickly dropping back down again.

A win on Wednesday at home to Motherwell would see us in sixth, but we'll need to vastly improve on our showing during the defeat to Ross County.

The injuries are mounting so the squad will be stretched to the extreme as we welcome the Steelmen fresh from a fine win over Aberdeen.

I'd love to see Liam Polworth back from injury as we simply don't have the same control of games when he is absent.

We looked totally clueless on Sunday with no passing through midfield and two wingers well out of form. Perhaps it's time for Gary Mackay-Steven to replace Danny Armstrong for a run of games.

The transfer window is now open of course, although the manager may need to ship a few out before he gets new faces in.

His summer policy of simply re-signing last season's main men has backfired and we badly needed some extra quality to rejuvenate this squad.

We have a wee break this weekend so it would be nice to grab a win over Motherwell to get us in a positive frame of mind for the upcoming cup game at Parkhead.

Sandy Armour is editor of The Killie Hippo fanzine

Killie fans, we asked you for your January transfer wishlist.

Here's what some of you are hoping for:

Stuarty: Without a doubt we need an experienced centre-half to cover for Stuart Findlay and allow Lewis Mayo to go back to right-back. Neither defensive loanees, Jack Burroughs and Oliver Bainbridge, have impressed. Happy to let them and Rory McKenzie go if he can find regular football somewhere else and continue his career at the right level.

David: We've been crying out for a midfield playmaker for several seasons, so that should be our number one aim. Defensively we need cover and arguably a right-winger as well to replace Danny Armstrong.

Neil: We still, even now, need a goalscorer, though Bruce Anderson has started to come good lately. Someone to shore up the defence would be welcome too and if there's a deal on offer for Armstrong, we should take it, no questions asked!

Callum: In high need of an out-and-out winger to replace Armstrong and a proven goalscoring striker.

DM: We need two centre-backs, a CDM, a winger, and a striker. Would let go of McKenzie. Innes Cameron has been effective as a substitute, but would understand if he wants to leave for more game time. Bainbridge has proven to be not up to scratch either. Would take £100k for Armstrong and let him go to Hearts now. His head is gone, he has no effort and desire to do well for us now.

Killie fans, we asked for your views after Sunday's defeat to Ross County.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Anna: Awful performance, bereft of any ideas and attacking threats were zero. Danny Armstrong was garbage, Rory McKenzie would have put in a better shift. As for strikers, why wasn't Bobby Wales starting the game instead of coming on from the bench?

Robert: Absolutely the poorest performance for a couple of seasons, losing Innes Cameron didn't help, Marley Watkins was thrown in far too soon and his lack of match sharpness was apparent (not his fault, Innes injury). The defence looked hesitant, wingers were ineffectual, the only spark was Kyle Magennis.

Kenny: A lacklustre performance, Kilmarnock really missed having a powerful forward up front to hold the ball up. There wasn't much in the game to excite either set of fans. I thought we had done enough to get a draw so disappointing to walk away with no points!

Jim: I have been beating the same drum for some time now. We are not good enough with a lot of the players past their best. We are in a relegation battle now and we have no money to get us out of the mess we are in. Our young players are the shining light, play them.

Anon: We have been here before, Europe one season then relegation the next. Cameron, Watkins, Joe Wright and Kyle Vassell won't keep us in the league never mind the top six. No leader on the park and the starting 11 gets chopped and changed every week which is not helping.

Stephen: Infuriating performance, 95 minutes of hoofing the ball in the direction of Bruce Anderson, despite it being obvious early on it wasn't working. County coped easily and broke with a pace and purpose we lacked. We had no plan B and Derek McInnes was outsmarted by a still rookie manager who got his tactics spot on. County got what they deserved. So did we.

The Sportscene team analyse Ross County's winning goal at Kilmarnock.

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• Noah Chilvers has assisted four goals in the Premiership this season (one in this game), more than any other Ross County player.

• Ross County have scored in their last six games in the Premiership, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of 11 games from 11 December 2021 to 9 February 2022.

• Kilmarnock have failed to score in eight of their 22 games, only Ross County (nine) have failed to score more often in the Premiership this season.

• Ross County are undefeated in their last four games in the Premiership, their last joint longest unbeaten streak was from 15 May 2024 to 10 August 2024.

Ross County strike late to take all three points against Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership (UK only).

George Harmon's 86th-minute strike gave Ross County their third win in four Scottish Premiership games as they beat Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.

County now rise up to ninth, leapfrogging Kilmarnock who drop to 10th.

What did you make of that one, Kilmarnock fans? Do you think you did enough to get something from that game?

Let us know your thoughts, external.

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Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes told BBC Scotland: "We looked a bit blunt in terms of our attacking threat today.

"At the very least we should be getting a 0-0 and bemoaning the fact that we need to do better in attack. We didn't have any real control of the game at any point, Ross County looked a bit brighter than us early on.

"They were more alive and more alert to certain situations. That said, second half we played more in their half but we were a wee bit unconvincing. We huffed and puffed.

"We missed Vassell leading the line for us. There's reasons for why we weren't at our best but it was certainly a disappointing afternoon for us.

"We knew we had an opportunity to move into the top six with a win. Any opportunities to win a home game, you've got to try and do that but we weren't good enough."

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

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It was Ayrshire's finest, Robert Burns, who wrote 'the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry'.

That was the case for Derek McInnes, with Innes Cameron brought on to add some freshness to the front line and give Marley Watkins and company a rest.

That lasted for five minutes, with the big striker going down with a hamstring injury. On came Watkins, who came off again after the hour mark, running on empty.

That was the case for plenty of the Kilmarnock players, despite the four changes. They barely laid a glove on County in the first half, with not a single shot on target.

That has been the problem too often this season. They have failed to score in eight of their 22 games and rarely looked threatening today.

Kilmarnock have been able to come back after going behind this season, winning twice on such occasions, but that has not happened at home. Rugby Park has become pregnable and McInnes can no longer rely on good home form to keep them away from danger.

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Kilmarnock captain Kyle Vassell was taken to hospital with a shin injury after the new-year win over St Mirren.

But fellow forward Marley Watkins is expected to return and winger Danny Armstrong is back from suspension.

Matty Kennedy is battling a back problem, while Stuart Findlay is a long-term absentee.

Ross County will check on the fitness of Michee Efete and Ryan Leak after the defenders went off injured in Thursday's win at Aberdeen.

On-loan midfielder Aidan Denholm is back at parent club Hearts to have a hamstring injury assessed, while Eli Campbell, Ross Laidlaw, Will Nightingale and Alex Samuel miss out.

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• Kilmarnock have only lost one of their last nine Scottish Premiership home games against Ross County (W6 D2), going down 0-1 in September 2023.

• After their 2-1 victory in October, Ross County are looking for back-to-back wins over Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership for the first time since September 2017.

• Kilmarnock have won each of their last three home league matches, last winning more in a row in the top-flight in January 2019 (run of five) under Steve Clarke.

• Ross County have won both of their last two away league outings, as many as their previous 31 on the road beforehand (W2 D9 L20). Never before in their top-flight history have they enjoyed three away wins in a row.

• Kilmarnock's Bruce Anderson has scored seven Scottish Premiership goals against Ross County – his most against a single opponent.

Sportscene pundit Steven Naismith on the costly lapse from Alex Gogic that led to St Mirren conceding the opener in their defeat at Kilmarnock.

We asked for your views on Kilmarnock's 2-0 home win against St Mirren.

Here's what some of you said:

Stephen: Another good home performance with passing, movement and a strong press. Our defence was excellent when Saints did have spells of possession, with Lewis Mayo back to something like last season's consistency. Good call from Derek McInnes bringing on Kyle Magennis when Kyle Vassell went off injured. His added composure in midfield meant better balance up front.

Robert: Very good professional performance. Probably the most comfortable win this season as I couldn't see St Mirren score. When I see the number of ridiculous yellow cards we've had this season it astounds me that Alex Gogic got away with constant fouling. No wonder he was hooked.

John: Got lucky with penalties. Penalties have been good to us this season, it would be good to score more goals from open play but take a win anyway. We have tricky games ahead but they are winnable.

Sean: Impressed with Bruce Anderson's performance. We need to start him most games. Against St Mirren's defence, he was causing all sort of problems. We need to shoot more, as too often, we tried to pass it into the net. But a good performance and win to start 2025.

David: Overall a positive three points with no goals conceded. Thought the midfield ran the show during the first half. Gogic should've been sent off before he was taken off. Onwards to Sunday's game!

Scott: Pretty comfortable win. Maybe not as exciting a performance as last week but St Mirren never laid a glove on us. I said before the Hearts game a few weeks ago that this would be a big period in our season and so it is proving.

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Bruce Anderson: The penalty specialist of the Premiership was at the double to secure victory against St Mirren. Even though his first spot-kick was saved, the striker pounced on the rebound to put Kilmarnock in front. It's now four spot-kicks from five, and a total goals tally of eight, for Anderson this season.

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Bruce Anderson hopes his goals can help propel Kilmarnock back into the Premiership top six after scoring a brace to beat St Mirren.

The 26-year-old netted either side of the break to ensure Killie started 2025 in a positive fashion and moved within three points of the top half.

"The most important thing is the three points, but to start the new year with two goals, I am over the moon," the former Livingston striker told BBC Scotland.

"Look, I'm here to score goals. I said that when I first joined the club, my game is all about scoring goals. I've got a lot to work on the other side of the game, but the main thing for me is I just want to score as much as I can.

"I think the gaffer knows that if he puts me in, he can sort of hang his hat on me to find the back of the net and that's what I'll be looking to do any time I get the chance."

"Can we go and kick on another level? Obviously I wasn't here last year but I've seen it from the outside how good a club it is, so now we'll look to take it to the next level this year and hopefully we can bring more good times to the club."

Watch the best of the action from Rugby Park as Kilmarnock beat St Mirren 2-0 in the Scottish Premiership.

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• St Mirren have failed to score in seven of their 21 games, only Ross County (nine) have failed to score more often in the Premiership this season.

• Bruce Anderson has scored eight goals in the Premiership this season (two in this game), more than any other Kilmarnock player.

• St Mirren have conceded six penalties in the Premiership this season, no team has conceded more.

• Kilmarnock registereed five shots on target in this match, higher than their season average of 3.6 in the Premiership.

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Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes: "The clean sheet is huge for us. That's three clean sheets in a row at home now and three victories.

"We didn't need to be brilliant today, we just needed to be really responsible. We scored good goals at good times and our overall play merited the win."

On Vassell's injury: "Kyle's was a serious one I think. It's his shin.

"I'm just hoping that we get a bit of good fortune with that one. He's away at the hospital now getting an X-ray so I don't really want to speculate too much.

"But it certainly looked as if it could be a sore one."

A double from Bruce Anderson helped Kilmarnock to victory over St Mirren and boosted the Ayrshire side's top-six hopes in the Scottish Premiership.

Were you at Rugby Park or were you following the action from home? Either way, we want your thoughts.

Have your say on the game., external

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Derek McInnes said before the game that after "a significant year" for the club in 2024 the last thing he wanted was for Kilmarnock to become "irrelevant in the league".

This was an important win for the Ayrshire side as they try to edge themselves towards the top six and start looking up the table rather than beneath them.

After producing arguably their best performance of the season in their final home match of the year against Aberdeen, McInnes wanted more of the same against St Mirren and while they never looked likely to reach those heights, they did exert an element of control throughout.

The injury to Kyle Vassell will be a concern and manager McInnes will hope he is not deprived of his captain's services for any significant length of time.

At the other end of the pitch, another clean sheet laid the platform for this victory and the Killie rearguard pretty much nullified any threat the Buddies posed.

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Bruce Anderson was the matchwinner for Kilmarnock, scoring twice.

The striker had the most shots and most touches in the opposition box of any player for Derek McInnes' side.

A mention too for Fraser Murray, who created four chances and continues to impress.

Clive Lindsay
BBC Sport Scotland

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Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes admitted at the weekend that he expects Danny Armstrong's fourth year at Rugby Park to be his last after the 27-year-old rejected a new contract amid rumoured interest from Hearts.

Given McInnes pointed out that Armstrong's performances had dipped this season, he might view young emerging striker Bobby Wales and blossoming midfielder Fraser Murray as bigger priorities, while veteran captain and striker Kyle Vassell and key defender Robbie Deas also have their futures to be decided.

Other contracts expiring: Kieran O'Hara, goalkeeper; Joe Wright, defender; Liam Donnelly, midfielder; Kyle Magennis, midfielder; Gary Mackay-Steven, midfielder; Rory McKenzie, forward; Innes Cameron, forward.

Read more: Premiership summer free agents facing uncertain January