Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes hopes the fact Aberdeen are yet to score against his side this season can give his team a psychological edge in their Scottish Cup quarter-final. (Daily Record)
Read the rest of Tuesday's gossip.
Image source, SNSMayo and Tiffoney ended up in a heap in the Kilmarnock box
Kilmarnock have appealed the red card shown to defender Lewis Mayo during Saturday's draw with Dundee.
The former Rangers and Partick Thistle man became tangled with Scott Tiffoney on the edge of the area, before they both fell to ground in the box.
From the resulting penalty, Dundee went 2-1 ahead before Robbie Deas' late leveller.
Speaking after the game, Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes said he didn't think it was even a foul.
"Having seen it back, there's no infringement in the box," he told BBC Scotland. "How Greg Aitken in VAR doesn't ask the referee to come and look at that is beyond me.
"I don't even think it's a foul and I don't think the referee gives a penalty if he sees it again. It's a coming together. Lewis has his eyes on the ball the whole time. It's not a foul and not a penalty kick."
The appeal is due to be heard on Tuesday 5 March.
James McFadden feels Lewis Mayo deserved his red card - and Dundee deserved their penalty.
Watch the best of the action as Dundee and Kilmarnock share four goals for the third time this season. (Available to UK users only)
Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland at Dens Park
Image source, SNSKilmarnock have "that never-say-die attitude," according to goal-scoring centre-half Robbie Deas.
The defender struck the Ayrshire side level late in the game to ensure a point was returning down the road with Derek McInnes' men.
"We have got an amazing group of boys here and the manager has put a great team together and we all fight for each other," he told BBC Scotland.
"We are doing quite well this season and we want to continue that. We wanted three points today but to go to ten men and to be 2-1 down, to be salvaging a point is great and shows you the character we have got in the dressing room.
"We showed that today, towards the end of the game, we have got that never-say-die attitude."
The point keeps Kilmarnock in the top six, despite dropping one place down to fifth and Deas is looking forward to the exciting run-in before the split.
"It is tight. You see the results today, so the good thing about football is it is exciting," he added.
"We are towards the end of the season, we have got a quarter-final to look forward to next weekend too.
"Obviously we are disappointed for not picking up the three points, but that shows you how far we have come as a team, as a club, to be disappointed at only picking up a point."
Image source, SNSKilmarnock manager Derek McInnes revealed that key defender Stuart Findlay missed the Dundee game as a precautionary measure.
“Stuart Findlay failed a fitness test," McInnes said after the 2-2 draw at Dens.
“We have big games coming up – Aberdeen in the cup next week, and St Mirren the following week.
“So we made the decision that he misses this one to be available for next week.”
Image source, SNSDundee have lost 19 points from winning positions in the Scottish Premiership this season, more than any other team.
Kilmarnock have scored in their last 11 games in the Scottish Premiership, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of 19 games from 26 November 2017 to 14 April 2018.
Luke McCowan has scored seven goals this season, more than any other Dundee player in the Scottish Premiership.
Marley Watkins has scored six goals this season, more than any other Kilmarnock player in the Scottish Premiership.
Derek McInnes talks to BBC Scotland after Kilmarnock drew 2-2 with Dundee.
Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland
No one was leaving this game early, as every league game between these sides has had at least one goal in injury time.
It really didn't look like it this time. Kilmarnock were huffing and puffing and Dundee had shut up shop.
But McInnes again found a way past his former number two, as both managers toyed and tinkered with their sides throughout the game.
While the point might feel like one won, rather than two dropped, the worry again comes from Kilmarnock's away from. Two wins on the road this season still isn't good enough.
Image source, SNSKilmarnock manager Derek McInnes tells BBC Scotland: "I'm pleased with my teams efforts - everyone has to do their bit and more and we did that. We've had to dig ourselves out a hole on two occasions. Firstly, we didn't start the game well. Dundee deserved to go ahead, they looked brighter and energetic. We were slow out the traps and ploddy.
"We changed tactically, and we were the better team other than the first 20 minutes - even with 10 men.
"Then we have to dig ourselves out again, coming from behind with 10 men. Having seen it back, there's no infringement in the box. How Greg Aitken in VAR doesn't ask the referee to come and look at that is beyond me.
"Here we are again, with such a pivotal decision. I don't even think it's a foul and I don't think the referee gives a penalty if he sees it again. It's a coming together. Lewis has his eyes on the ball the whole time. It's not a foul and not a penalty kick.
"It's a brilliant finish for us. It feels like a brilliant point for us. And for Deasy, the fact he's still up there in the dying embers is a testament to his fitness and professionalism. We get our reward in front of our fans.
"We remained calm, played measured, believed there was something there for us and thankfully, we came up with a big moment.
"Today was down to the type of person you've got. That's the true mark of a team, believing there's always something. Some points are only points, but some feel like more. I love being the manager of this team, it's such a good group of boys who never know they're beat."
Had you given up hope, Kilmarnock fans? Or were you confident of a decent result?
Are you still feeling more than confident of the top six?
Image source, SNSMarley Watkins. His arrival at Kilmarnock created little fanfare, but he has transformed himself into one of their most important players.
Reliable and undroppbale on current form, it will most likely be Kyle Vassell who is replaced should Kevin van Veen get into the starting XI.
Dundee: McCracken, Portales, Shaughnessy, Donnelly, Beck, Mulligan, Sylla, Cameron, McCowan Tiffoney, Main.
Substitutes: Legzdins, Sharp, Dodgson, Astley, Bakayoko, Lamie, Boateng, Mellon, Costelloe.
Kilmarnock: Dennis, Wright, Mayo, Deas, Ndaba, Armstrong, Donnelly, Polworth, Kennedy, Watkins, Vassell.
Substitutes: O'Hara, McKenzie, Watson, Balagizi, Murray, Cameron, Davies, Mackay-Steven, Van Veen.
Dundee are without the suspended midfielder Finlay Robertson, while defender Jordan McGhee drops out with a calf injury.
Ryan Howley, Zach Robinson and Diego Pineda are still out.
Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes will look to manage the minutes of forward Greg Stewart, who has a groin issue.
Midfielders Kyle Magennis and Brad Lyons remain out.
Image source, SNSDerek McInnes has hailed Kilmarnock captain Kyle Vassell's leadership as a key part of the club's success this season.
The much-travelled 31-year-old was handed the armband at the start of the season and has repaid McInnes' faith with six goals so far.
Killie head to Dundee this weekend knowing a win would be a "huge step" towards confirming a top-six berth with four games to go before the split.
"My captain leads by example, he's so important to us," McInnes said.
"The workrate of my team is incredible. We're not asking the players to do anything they're not capable of, but the willingness... it starts from Vassell and [Marley] Watkins at the top end of the pitch.
"Their running stats, every week, are outrageous in terms of what they're giving us and they set the tone for the rest of the team.
"It needs to be that for us. This challenge we've got this season, the biggest fundamental has been sheer workrate to try and make sure we're more competitive week in, week out."
Kilmarnock travel to Dens Park on the back of their first league defeat since the beginning of January - both inflicted by Rangers.
With an eight-point gap over sixth-place Dundee - who still have a game in hand - McInnes knows bouncing back from the narrow defeat in midweek is vital to securing a top-six place.
"It was a bit unusual coming in yesterday on the back of a defeat, we've not had that for a while," he said.
"But we spoke on Wednesday night that we don't have time to dwell on it. When we came back in yesterday we had to have a spring in our step, ready to go again. I'm looking for positive minds, it's too big a game to have disappointment hang over us.
"A win for us, while it doesn't confirm top six, I think it would be a huge step towards it."
Image source, SNSKilmarnock boss Derek McInnes has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Scottish Premiership trip to Dundee.
Here are the key points from his press conference:
On the Rangers defeat, he believes the side should have made more of their chances - but praised the efforts of the players: "We gave ourselves a chance to get a result against a strong team at the minute."
A couple of players, including Kevin Van Veen, were hit by a bug earlier in the week but are close to shaking it off.
Kyle Magennis and Brad Lyons are out with injury, Greg Stewart has an ongoing groin problem which they're trying to manage.
McInnes hailed the captaincy of Kyle Vassell on the team's performances, adding "my captain leads by example, he's so important to us".
The improvement in Kilmarnock's workrate has been a key factor in their success this season, and was the biggest fundamental change.
He expects a tough game against Dundee, as "we've had some tight matches with Dundee already this season". But he added: "A win for us, while it doesn't confirm top six, I think it would be a huge step towards it."
Image source, SNS
Image source, SNSWe offered you the chance to submit questions to one of our Sportscene pundits.
Q: Would you get rid of VAR?
I don’t envisage Scotland making a drastic call about VAR while other nations still operate with it. We need to accept it’s here to stay.
Within football there has to be an element of human error, players make mistakes, but the fact we’ve seen a big increase in errors means there’s clear improvement required.
That goes beyond Scottish football, though, you see that all over the place. What we need to do here is continue to upskill the referees. Their performances need to improve and there needs to be more accountability.
These incorrect decisions are very costly for clubs. Recognising an error is okay, but you can’t be offering out apologies every week.
A trip to Dundee is next for Derek McInnes' Kilmarnock side.
Should he stick with the starting line-up from Wednesday night's narrow 2-1 defeat by Rangers or would you like to see some changes?
Pick your preferred XI here.
Derek McInnes reacts to Kilmarnock's narrow loss to Rangers.
Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes tells BBC Scotland: "We tried to get after Rangers and unsettle them as much as we could. There were times we couldn't do that and we had to give up possession. They didn't play through us, they played a lot of longer balls but we have the pace to deal with that.
"We had the better moments to get the second goal in the first half. We spoke at half-time about not hanging on to a lead for 45 minutes and we started the second half like a train.
"But games like this can be about big moments and, with the players Rangers have, that can win it, it's not the bigger performance.
"I don't think there was much in it, we were good value and that pleases me no end."
Image source, SNS
