Kilmarnock boss hails 'outstanding' Nicke Kabamba as point against Celtic the 'least' his side deserved

Alex Dyer hailed the contribution of Nicke Kabamba in Celtic draw. Picture: SNS

Kilmarnock manager Alex Dyer hailed Nicke Kabamba’s contribution in his team’s 1-1 draw against Celtic, insisting the English striker is the embodiment of the Rugby Park club’s values.

Kabamba, signed by Dyer from Hartlepool United in January, ran the Celtic defence ragged on occasions and earned Kilmarnock’s penalty equaliser when his run into the area was illegally halted by Christopher Jullien.

It was the kind of performance from Kabamba which would surely have earned him a standing ovation from the Killie support had the match not been played behind closed doors but the 27-year-old received rich praise from his boss.

“Nicke Kabamba just sums up what this football club’s all about,” said Dyer. “It’s about working hard, not giving up when you’re cornered, show a bit of skill and he won himself a penalty by doing all of those things.

“Nicke has been outstanding since he’s come to the club. He gives 100 percent and the boys around him all believe in him.

“They know what he can do and he showed it again today against two good defenders. Let’s hope it continues.”

Deserved a point... at least

After their opening day defeat against Hibs at Easter Road, it was a first Premiership point of the season for Kilmarnock and Dyer is encouraged that his players are responding to his methods.

“I hope so,” he said. “It’s going to take time. Given the time, we can get as many points as we can and start climbing the league.

“It was a great performance today - a great team effort, everyone to a man played well. We deserved the point.

“Defensively, we were good. Celtic didn’t give us too much trouble. They’re a good side, obviously.

“But today we were compact and we pressed when we had to. We had a good discipline about us today and I think we deserved a point at least.

“It’s all about stopping the ball getting into your box, which we did quite well today. We had a good shape to our side and every time they got on the ball we tried to press and close them down whenever they got near our box.

“But at the same time, when we got it wide we put crosses in and we did well. It was a good performance from us.

“We’ve got a lot of experience in there. The majority of those boys have played Celtic so many times, they know what to expect.

“All I have to do is give them certain reminders because they’ve been there before. We do it through training in the week and they responded well.

“They enjoy these games. They’re not going to get a lot of the ball at times, but when they do they have to be brave and show what quality they have. They were very good today, on and off the ball.”