Kilmarnock

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Kilmarnock winger Matty Kennedy welcomed the international break and the chance of some "downtime" away from football.

Derek McInnes' side face St Johnstone on Saturday in the Scottish Premiership, looking for a positive performance after two defeats before the break.

Kennedy revealed he does not watch football at home and has instead been catching up on a few TV boxsets.

"We had a bit of downtime," he said. "There have been quite a few [breaks] this season.

"I think when you are playing the games you just want to try and continue. The break is probably a good time to spend time with family and friends but back at it now.

"When I leave work I don’t watch any football at all. I see it as a job. I watch series. I was watching Outer Banks.

"I love playing football and being around the boys but in and around the house I would never have a game of football on."

Kennedy says he has sacrificed some of his more creative instincts this season in an attempt to score more goals.

It has paid off, with four league goals this term already surpassing last season's tally of three.

"I'm just trying to get into the box more," he said. "I've probably tried to stop creating more and just get in the box. It seems to have worked.

"We have good forward players who put balls into the box. Luckily a few things have dropped for me and I've taken my chance. There is nothing fancy about it or words of wisdom. Just get in the box more."

We asked you what the one thing nobody is talking about in relation to Kilmarnock - good or bad.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Anon: Our much sought-after youth prospect Bobby Wales is out of contract in the summer and has been out the picture since his excellent assist in our 3-2 win against Dundee. He looks unlikely to sign an extension, meaning we lose not only a talented young player but also a sellable asset.

Anon: Why has Matty Kennedy not been called up again by Northern Ireland and are our goalkeepers good enough for the SPFL?

James: Marley Watkins and Kyle Vassell are good at annoying defences, but their goal scoring is not prolific. They get the odd goal here and there but not enough.

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• Since the start of 2020-21, St Johnstone have won more league games against Kilmarnock (7) than any other opponent.

• After their 2-0 win in this fixture last season, Kilmarnock could pick up successive away league victories over St Johnstone for the first time since December 2017 (run of 3).

• St Johnstone have only won one of their last 14 home league games (D4 L9), a 3-0 victory over Ross County in October, which is also their only clean sheet in this period.

• Kilmarnock have won just three of their last 29 top-flight away games played in the month of November (D9 L17), and are winless in their last nine (D3 L6) since a 1-0 victory at Hearts in 2018.

• Nicky Clark has scored five of St Johnstone's last 10 league goals, netting a penalty in both of the last two matches. The last Scottish player to score in three successive Scottish Premiership appearances for the club was Michael O'Halloran in August 2017 – a run that included a goal against Kilmarnock.

Kilmarnock are playing catch-up as they eye another top-six finish this season.

The Rugby Park side have had an uneven domestic season so far but their European adventure provided memories to last a lifetime.

No one knows the club better than the fans, so what is the one thing nobody is talking about in relation to Kilmarnock - good or bad?

Tell us your thoughts., external

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Kilmarnock have lost no belief in their bid to qualify for European football again despite an inconsistent start to the campaign, says assistant coach Paul Sheerin.

Derek McInnes guided the Rugby Park side to an impressive fourth-placed finish last term, but this season has started with just three wins in 12 league matches.

The Ayrshire club, who are currently seven points adrift of fourth, have been reduced to 10 men in several games and Sheerin admits "discipline has been an issue".

The former Aberdeen coach also cited a hectic early-season schedule, which included European qualifiers, as a reason why they have started the campaign slowly.

But Sheerin says the team remain "full of belief" as they aim to lift themselves from their position of eighth in the table.

"There's now a run of games [without a break] so hopefully we can find the consistency we are looking for," Sheerin said prior to Kilmarnock's trip to St Johnstone on Saturday.

"If you can get a couple of wins you will find yourself in the top six, it's important we do that. The belief has not gone. We are full of belief and the aim is the same as last year.

"If we can get in the mix at the split for the top six then that gives you the opportunity to play European football. That's the aim and it's not changed this season."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Assistant coach Paul Sheerin has been speaking to the media prior to Kilmarnock's return to Premiership action at St Johnstone on Saturday.

Here are the key lines:

• Admits having so many international breaks has made the season feel "a bit stop-start" but the players have had a chance to "rest, recuperate and reset".

• Sheerin says the team will improve their league position if "we can find the consistency we are looking for".

• "The belief has not gone" in the squad as they eye European qualification for a second successive season, he adds.

• The coaching staff have recognised the changes Simo Valakari has implemented at St Johnstone and understand "what a difficult opponent they will be".

• Sheerin confirms there are no injury concerns for the trip to Perth.

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Former Kilmarnock striker Kyle Lafferty says he was "flung under the bus in a way" with the handling of a sectarian comment he made in September 2022.

The 37-year-old, who played for Kilmarnock at the time of the incident, was withdrawn from the Northern Ireland squad and subsequently banned for 10 matches by the Scottish FA.

Lafferty, who has 20 goals in 89 caps, has not been selected for Northern Ireland since.

The striker accepts his international career is over, but while he recognises the sectarian remark was his mistake, he feels he the situation could have been handled better.

"I'm not going to sit here and blame anyone else, the words came out of my mouth," he told BBC Sport NI in a wide-ranging interview.

"It could have been handled better slightly, maybe. I felt I was flung under the bus in a way."

He added: "Never getting a call-up since, was it down to that video? I don't know."

Lafferty on 'massive' career regrets - read the full interview

Sandy Armour
Fan writer

It was fantastic to see Scotland grab two wins against decent opposition. However, I'm a club before country man so it's good to know there are no more international interruptions until March.

Allied to our own European games it's been a very stop-start season but we can now concentrate on building some momentum in the league and rejoining the top-six battle.

Our performance against Celtic was arguably our best of the season and a defeat like that is far more acceptable than our self-inflicted losses to Ross County and Dundee.

We're on the road again this Saturday, weather permitting, when we take on a St Johnstone team keen to impress their new boss.

Perth isn't a particularly happy hunting ground, however it's not a time to be worrying about the opposition.

If we can get on the front foot and replicate the Celtic performance then I fancy we'll be heading back down the road with three points.

Sandy Armour is editor of the Killie Hippo fanzine

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

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European football hasn't come without a domestic cost for Kilmarnock this season.

Twelve games in, many Rugby Park regulars would have hoped to have amassed more than an average of a point a game.

However, after a slow start in the Scottish Premiership, Derek McInnes' men have started to climb the congested table. Most noticeably, courtesy of being comeback kings.

Of the 12 points Killie have earned this season, nine have been won from a losing position. No team has fought back for more. In fact Dundee - ah, the duality of late winners against them - are next in the comeback chart with six.

One of the most dramatic of them all came at Dens Park, with Matty Kennedy grabbing the winner to turn a 2-0 defeat into an unlikely 3-2 victory. Then, of course, Killie got a taste of their own medicine by squandering a two-goal lead in the same fixture a month later.

Winger Kennedy, though, is once again having an influential season. He has created 31 chances, a league high, with 15 successful crosses from open play too - also the best in the division.

The same can't be said at the other end, however. And this is really where Killie's problems have been this term.

Once a tough nut to crack, they're leaking too many goals - only St Johnstone (27) have conceded more than the Rugby Park side's 25.

They've faced an almighty 182 shots, 62 of which have been on target. Again, no team has faced more, but this isn't a stat chart you want to top, especially as Kilmarnock aren't outscoring teams, with just 15 goals netted in their dozen outings.

While that makes for relatively grim reading, the positive is that on their march to fourth last season, Killie were only four points better off at this stage.

Tightening up at the back and keeping 11 players on the park - no need to go down that road again - and the European spots could again be in sight.

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Reo Hatate should have been sent off in Celtic's 2-0 victory over Kilmarnock on Sunday, according to the Scottish FA's key match incident review panel.

The Celtic midfielder was booked for catching Liam Donnelly with his studs, and video assistant referee Don Robertson agreed with on-field official Nick Walsh's decision.

However, by a 3-2 majority, the KMI panel has deemed that the offence was serious foul play that "endangered the safety of the opponent" and VAR should have intervened to recommend a red card review.

The incident occurred in the closing stages when Celtic were 2-0 up and Hatate was substituted five minutes from time.

In the same game, the panel unanimously agreed that a yellow card and no VAR intervention was the correct call for Joe Wright's challenge on Adam Idah where the Kilmarnock defender caught the Celtic striker with an elbow.

BBC Scotland's chief sportswriter Tom English has been answering your questions on Kilmarnock.

Frank asked: Do you feel that Kilmarnock have been unlucky or harshly treated with players being sent off?

Tom answered: Well, there's been a lot of them, hasn't there? Off the top of my head, I'm trying to think of all the different incidents that led to the reds.

Maybe there was one or so that are harsh. I think from memory, most of them were justified or borderline. I think Derek McInnes has been very good on this and hasn't sought sympathy or excuses.

In a large part he's taken them all on the chin and has been critical of the decision-making that some of these players have made in those moments. Some of the reds were just ludicrous from an indiscipline point of view and self-defeating.

And you look at Killie, they've had Europe to deal with, that was difficult enough. But I think they're in a false position. They'll come through.

They're four points down on where they were last season. I don't have many fears for them.

They have a very, very good manager. And I think they will be banging on the door at the top six. But I say that about a few others as well. They can't all be up there.

Sandy Armour
Fan writer

We may have walked away from the Celtic game with no points, but the players and management can still hold their heads high.

We matched Celtic in all but one department. If we had taken our chances the points would have stayed at the Theatre of Pies.

We've had a tricky run of games over the last month, but when we return from the international break there is an opportunity for us to start climbing the table.

The injury to Stuart Findlay is a huge blow and it may well be the manager will look to fill the void in the January transfer window.

I don't think we have great leadership on the park in the Ray Montgomerie or Manuel Pascali mould, so it would be a huge lift for everyone if we could introduce that kind of individual.

Finally, it's been a very sad weekend for the Killie family with the deaths of two great Killie fans. Both Adam Watt and Tom Cartner were lovely guys taken far too soon, our thoughts go out to both families.

Sandy Armour is editor of the Killie Hippo fanzine

Sportscene pundits Billy Dodds and Lee Miller analyse Kilmarnock's "excellent" performance in the 2-0 Premiership defeat by Celtic.

(Available to UK users only)

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Lewis Mayo says a lack of clinical edge cost Kilmarnock another upset against Celtic, but insists they take positives from the narrow defeat.

Derek McInnes' were beaten 2-0 by the Glasgow club at Rugby Park on Sunday despite an impressive showing in which they recorded 18 shots at goal.

"You can’t ever be pleased with getting beat, but you can take confidence from it," defender Mayo said.

"With the level of performance that was there, we do think there was a real chance for us to get a good result, but I just think they punished us to a degree we didn’t punish them.

"I think the stats suggest that as well. The amount of shots we had, the shots we had blocked, would suggest we put them under as much pressure on their box than ours, maybe even more from us, but they came up with the clinical moments and we didn't.

"We've had results against them before and that performance felt as good as any for large parts of it.

"Again, it just comes down to that fine detail they produce, moments of quality, and we just couldn’t get the ball in the net, but it felt like it was coming for so long."

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Despite the 2-0 defeat, it still feels a little harsh that there is only one Kilmarnock player in my team. They were magnificent for large spells against Celtic, hustling and harrying.

The one player who makes it though, is Lewis Mayo.

Back to his form from last season, he kept it simple in an overall sturdy Kilmarnock performance at the back. There is no shame losing 2-0 to this Celtic side.

Honourable mention too for Corrie Ndaba, who was superb for Derek McInnes' team against the champions.

Watch highlights as Celtic beat Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership.

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What would you like to ask Tom English about Kilmarnock?

Our chief sportswriter is in the hotseat ready to answer your questions and offer his insight and opinion on your club.

Answers will be provided on Tuesday’s episode of the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast and on this page later in the week.

Put your questions to Tom here., external

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Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes told Sportsound: "I feel for the players. We've been the better team. We're up against a talented team, a lot of talented individuals. They've been getting so many plaudits of late and rightly so, they're a good team, but they didn't enjoy that.

"I don't think Celtic had any real control of the game, that they're normally used to having. That was largely in part to the tenacity of the team, the fitness of the team, the intelligence of the team.

"It wasn't just about trying to be physical and stop them and getting touches, it was also playing on the back of that. We stressed on that. It's not just enough to win the ball, we've got to look after the pass when we win it and try and get to Celtic quite quickly.

"The XG we had, the chances we created - twice as many as Celtic, twice as many touches in the box as Celtic, twice as many shots, but ultimately it comes down to goals and moments.

[On losing first goal] "It was a blow and we spoke at half time about making sure that wasn't going to define us. We had to make sure we came out the same, try to accentuate the positives from the first half performance and try and do that again.

"I'm disappointed for my players that they've not got something from it. But a lot of what we wanted from the game today we got. We made it difficult for Celtic who have been swatting teams away of late. It was the type of competitive performance that I really was hoping for for my team."

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Kilmarnock will barely believe this outcome. Their approach was brave, intriguing and full of desire. Two up top, and prepared to go man-to-man against Celtic's three-pronged strike force. It worked so well.

Celtic just couldn't build pressure as the home side continually probed at them, giving their backline no respite.

They were the better side for spells and came so close through Watkins.

Every element of their performance was bang on as they refused to let Celtic settle into any rhythm at all. Crucially, they just couldn't capitalise, denied by Schmeichel and dogged defending time and time again.

The concession of the opener was so unfortunate, but they still stuck to their task. Regular performances of this standard will see Kilmarnock rise up the table quickly.

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Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes has challenged his players to produce the "best version" of themselves against league-leaders Celtic on Sunday.

Killie beat Celtic twice at Rugby Park last season, and also drew 1-1 at Celtic Park, and McInnes says those results mean his side are "not daunted" by the visit of the league champions.

"We take confidence from the fact that we have had some good results against them last season," McInnes said.

"We have got to try and be the best version of us to get results against Celtic as we did last season. We had to do so much right in the games, we are not daunted by them, we are in the same league.

"It's going to be a huge challenge, they present the biggest challenge for all managers in the league and they have done for a period."

McInnes says making Celtic feel "uncomfortable" will be key if Kilmarnock are to get a positive result.

"On the pitch, my players will have to make so many good decisions in and out of possession, we have to be so organised and confident in ourselves that we can get a result," he added.

"It's important that Celtic see that, they've got to feel that on Sunday and hopefully we can be good enough to make things at the very least uncomfortable. If we can strike the first blow and get that first goal and get the confidence from that.

"We have to try to look for those little nuances and little things in the game that can maybe help my team find an advantage and it's important we just try and maybe reference more of last season."

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Kilmarnock defender Stuart Findlay has been ruled out for several months with the ankle injury he suffered at Dundee.

Liam Polworth (calf) is pushing for a return and long-term absentee Kyle Magennis is still building up his fitness.

Celtic defenders Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty did not train on Friday but both might feature. Odin Thiago Holm remains out with a calf problem.

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Although Kilmarnock's usually stellar home record hasn't materialised so far this season, midfielder Brad Lyons is hopeful his side can again turn Rugby Park into a fortress when they host champions Celtic on Sunday.

Derek McInnes' side beat Celtic at home twice last season - once in the league and once in the League Cup - and have already defeated Rangers in Ayrshire this season.

"Over the last three years since we came back up from the Championship, our home form has been really good," Lyons said.

"I don't know whether it's our home fans supporting us or the pitch - nobody likes coming and playing on the pitch. We are used to it, we train on it every day, we know the way the ball bounces and it can be different at times.

"Sometimes it can be the mentality thing. Hopefully we can use the home advantage to our benefit on Sunday."

However, Killie face a buoyant Celtic who go in on a high after their stunning Champions League win over RB Leipzig.

"We know Celtic's qualities, they have quality players in every position, but so do we," Lyons added. "We are not going into this game shying away from it. We know their quality, but we can give them a good go here.

"We are going to go in and back ourselves. It’s 11 players against 11 players out there. As I said before the Rangers game, we beat both Old Firm teams out there last year so why can't we do it this year?

"We have that feeling of beating Celtic, we have that confidence, we know we can do it, so why can't we do it again on Sunday?"

Clive Lindsay
BBC Sport Scotland

Having swept aside Aberdeen in the League Cup semi-final - then RB Leipzig 3-1 in the Champions League - Celtic once more look a relentlessly potent force.

If Brendan Rodgers had failed to convince some last season despite eventually cantering to the league title, his side's recent scintillating performances are helping put to bed unfavourable comparisons with Celtic under predecessor Ange Postecoglou.

Yes, there was the 7-1 thrashing away to Borussia Dortmund, but they have shrugged off that embarrassment by going seven games unbeaten since.

Albeit one of those was Aberdeen's two-goal fightback to draw at Celtic Park, it has culminated in their two most impressive displays this season.

Indeed, it is 25 games since they last lost domestically, against Hearts at Tynecastle in March, and they head to Rugby Park on Sunday having won all five away league games this season.

Celtic eased to a 4-0 win on Kilmarnock's visit to Glasgow in August and handed out a 5-0 thrashing to clinch the title on their last trip to Ayrshire in May, all of which does not suggest Derek McInnes' side will offer much resistance this time either.

However, Kilmarnock are unbeaten in four at home and will take heart from their last Rugby Park outing - when a single goal accounted for the other side of the Old Firm to heap pressure on Rangers manager Philippe Clement and send McInnes to the top of the bookmakers' odds as the Belgian's likely successor.

Indeed, Celtic headed home beaten in their other two visits last season - once in the Premiership and once in the League Cup - as well being held to a draw at Celtic Park.

We could be in for some post-Bonfire Night fireworks.

Read all the weekend Premiership picks