Allan Johnston worries good form is clouded by row

KILMARNOCK manager Allan Johnston is worried that his teams great start to the season is being clouded by the row between playing staff and the chairman over bonuses.

Kilmarnock manager Allan Johnston speaks to the press ahead of his side's upcoming Scottish Premiership clash against Celtic. Picture: SNS

Kilmarnock currently sit fourth in the Premiership, three points ahead of Champion’s Celtic who they face tomorrow. However the dispute between chairman Michael Johnston and the players over additional bonuses has taken the spotlight away from the performances happening on the pitch and focused it firmly on events happening off it.

Manager Johnston said: “It’s still ongoing and we are trying to deal with it internally. Hopefully it will get resolved. It has overshadowed our good start. It’s disappointing for the players because a lot of them have had good performances this year. I don’t think they have had the credit they deserve.”

Johnston believes that there was little more that the players could do than try to focus on their performances on the pitch and that he felt they had done so admirably, he added: “You’ve just got to focus on the football and you can’t say the players haven’t done that. It’s dragging on but we are not the only team in this position.”

Johnston is confident his team will be focussed against Celtic and refused to support talk that the fear factor is no longer there with their opponents tomorrow. He said: “We have to try and win the game and we have players who are capable of getting a result. I wouldn’t say the fear factor isn’t there any more because Celtic are still a massive club with good players.”