Aluko penalty call would have sent Pascali ‘a little bit crazy’

Kilmarnock captain Manuel Pascali admired the restraint shown by Dunfermline players last week following the controversial penalty conceded to Sone Aluko at Ibrox, claiming the decision would have made him “crazy”.

The visitors made little fuss when the Rangers winger went down in the box, although Pars manager Jim McIntyre later accused the player of diving, an accusation which was vindicated on Thursday when Aluko had a two-match ban for simulation confirmed by the Scottish Football Association. Pascali, 30, was impressed by how the Fifers, whom Kilmarnock play today at East End Park in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, accepted referee Steve Conroy’s decision to punish them with a spot-kick, which Nikica Jelavic converted in the 2-1 home win.

“If I was a Dunfermline player I would have got a yellow card. If it had happened in my box I would have become crazy at the referee,” said the Italian. “I thought the Dunfermline players were quite quiet. They behaved well. I know once the referee has given the decision you cannot do anything to change his mind, but if you see your team lose to that penalty you become a little bit crazy and sometimes it is hard to be quiet.

“Modern strikers are really clever and any time they feel a little contact they go down easily. But it is a part of football and you have to deal with it.”

Kenny Shiels’ side travel to Fife with confidence having moved into sixth place last week with a 2-0 home win over Aberdeen. Pascali hopes the 6-3 home defeat by Inverness last month was a turning point in Killie’s season.

Since then the Ayrshire club have drawn away to Hibernian and beaten Rangers and the Dons at Rugby Park. “I think I will remember that [Inverness] match forever,” said the former Parma player. “There are many ways to lose a match and that one was maybe the worst one. After we conceded the third goal, we lost the plot, we played as individuals and to lose six goals was bad. Everyone realised you can lose a game of football but you cannot lose like that.

“The players are honest, everyone knew we were poor and you have to admit it was terrible. We have to think about that game every time we play to give us extra motivation.

“Dunfermline are going to be up for the match but we are quite confident and to get another win, the third in a row, will give us a boost.” Dunfermline manager McIntyre has called on his side to eliminate errors and claim a first home victory of the season. He is adamant that the Pars’ eight home games without a win has not weighed heavily on his mind. But he is eager for his side to make amends for their last home fixture, when they led Aberdeen 3-1 with nine minutes remaining only for the match to finish in a 3-3 draw.

McIntyre said: “The press will always remind you until you win a home game, but it’s not something we think about. We’ve played well several times at home, but made mistakes that have not enabled us to win the game. There have been good performances – we just need to make sure we turn the good performance into three points.”

Defender Paddy Boyle is rated 50-50 with a knee injury, while midfielder Joe Cardle has joined the lengthy list of absentees with his knee problem.