Derek McInnes admits relief at overly dramatic Kilmarnock performance

Derek McInnes believes Kilmarnock made the latest twists and turns in the cinch Championship title race unnecessarily dramatic in grinding out victory over Queen of the South.

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes. (Photo by Sammy Turner / SNS Group)

For all the home side’s dominance, they only had Ash Taylor’s goal to show at the interval and when they were picked off on the break by Ali Roy in the second half, it co-incided with a goal at Gayfield which saw Arbroath assume temportary top spot in the live league table. There was another twist to come late on as Killie restored their advantage in the game, and in the league standings, through Oli Shaw and the relief at full time was palpable.

"I think every win at this stage of the season is going to be vitally important but we probably made it more dramatic that we needed it to be,” said McInnes."I was really pleased with how we controlled the game, not so pleased with how we gave up too many opportunities for ourselves.

"While it’s 1-0 you are always going to give them oxygen every time you miss a chance. They got a goal on a counter attack from our set play which is really disappointing.

QoS player/manager Wullie Gibson (R) leads the warm-up during a cinch Championship match between Kilmarnock and Queen of the South at Rugby Park, on March 19, 2022, in Kilmarnock, Scotland. (Photo by Sammy Turner / SNS Group)

"For ten minutes we lost our composure after that and thankfully it didn't come back to bite us because we had enough time to still get the winning goal."

It was anything but easy for the league leaders. Not only were Wullie Gibson’s players fighting for their league status – they were also playing for a place in the SPFL Trust Trophy final in two weeks’ time, but Gibson insists the focus must be on league survival against Hamilton next weekend.

“There is a little bit of pride about the performance but we have lost another game of football which is the reality.

“We need a reaction on Saturday because that is bigger than the cup final for us.

“I would like to think the boys have put [the cup final] to the back of their minds. It is a young team and I have been there and you get carried away and you look forward to it but the league is the be all and end all. We have six games to go and we need to win three of them to stand a chance.”

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