Little margin for error as Kilmarnock face nervous finale

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KILMARNOCK’S eighth loss in nine matches in all competitions on Saturday saw them fall to second bottom spot in the SPL, remaining just a point above Falkirk at the foot of the table.

It’s not much of a cushion and Jimmy Calderwood’s men must start winning soon if they are to ensure that their 17-year stay in the top flight doesn’t come to an end.

It is a near-identical situation to that they found themselves in last season, when they also lost their first post-split fixture at New Douglas Park before embarking on a run that yielded ten points from their final four games.

Club captain Craig Bryson remains hopeful they pull off a similar feat this time round.

“We need to start picking up points soon or we could be in trouble,” he said. “It’s no secret that the club’s in a lot of debt and going down wouldn’t help that. Our job is to keep the team in the SPL.”

For much of this game, Kilmarnock looked to be making a decent enough stab at that job. However, once Dougie Imrie gave Hamilton a 72nd-minute lead they collapsed, conceding further goals to Flavio Paixao and Joel Thomas. Having only scored four times away from home all season – by far the worst return in British league football – such a collapse was perhaps no surprise.

“I don’t know what the problem is,” said Bryson. “We’ve lost ten games away from home 1-0, so it looks like the first goal’s going to be crucial for us. If we get it, we can hang on.”

Unfortunately for Kilmarnock, their next game is also away from home against one of the other two sides still involved in the relegation battle.

Bryson said: “We’ve got a big game next week against St Mirren and we must get it right.”

Goalscorer Imrie knows what it feels like to be relegated, having gone down with Inverness last season.

The 26-year-old, who moved to New Douglas Park on transfer deadline day two months ago, had anticipated another dogfight when he first joined Hamilton. However, after helping his new club net their fifth win in seven games, he believes they are unlucky not to have been in the shake-up for the top six.

“At the start of the season when I wasn’t here they had a bad run,” said Imrie. “Alec Neil was out until November. Mark McLaughlin and James McArthur were suspended for the first two games.

“If those players had all started the season, who knows where we could have been?”