Kilmarnock boss Angelo Alessio wins October's Ladbrokes Premiership manager of the month - not long after being favourite to be first boss sacked

Angelo Alessio has been named manager of the month. Picture: SNS

The Italian led his side to three wins in four games as they climbed from seventh to fifth in the league.

Even in the match they lost, 2-1 at Motherwell, Killie put in a spirited display, playing more than 75 minutes with ten men following Alex Bruce's celebration.

It is an award for patience with Alessio the favourite for the first manager sacked in the league after the team were dumped out the Europa League by Connah's Quay Nomads in embarrassing fashion.

Kilmarnock then lost their first two league games, including a 2-0 defeat at Hamilton Academical, with some pundits encouraging the club to cut their losses.

A run of only one defeat in eight league games saw the side climb the table.

"I'm very proud of the award because it comes after a difficult start," Alessio said. "So I consider it an award shared with my staff and my players and all colleagues at Kilmarnock."

Alessio has continued with the core of the side which finished third and qualified for Europe under Steve Clarke. However, he has eyed further tweaks to suit his style.

"I have a lot of players from last season and I have to consider this," he said.

"I wanted to change some things about the style, I believe in my methods, but I have to be flexible because I have these players.

"I kept the same style as last season and I changed some situations on the pitch but now we have to continue, in the future I want to put in place other things I believe."