Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Saints have Killie hoping for scraps
JAMIE MacDonald believes Kilmarnock need to back up their wonder-strikes with a few scrappy finishes if they are to avoid trouble this term.
The Rugby Park side are the lowest scorers in the Ladbrokes Premierships with 16 goals, yet top scorer Souleymane Coulibaly has 11 strikes in all competitions, with almost all of them a contender for goal of the season.
H ow ev e r, g o a l k e e p e r MacDonald is worried the Ivorian’s flow of stunning finishes will dry up, leaving their team in bother. That proved to be the case on Friday night as Killie dominated the second half against St Johnstone but sank to a 1-0 defeat.
MacDonald said: “If you look at all our goals, and especially the ones Souley has been scoring, they have all been top quality. It seems we have to score a screamer just to get on the scoresheet — but you can only do that for so long. It’s the scrappy goals that will make or break your season. For some reason we’re not getting them right now.
“We had plenty of chances against Hearts and there was a few goalmouth scrambles but we ended up firing straight at the keeper.
“But t he boys are all working hard. I feel for guys like Nathan Tyson, who puts such a shift in but the ball just doesn’t fall for him. Hopefully, goals will come.”
The Rugby Park result leaves Killie hoping f or scraps and moves Saints to within a point of fourthplaced Hear ts. Murray Davidson, who headed home the winner t wo minutes before t he break, said: “Coming down on the bus, if someone had offered us a 1-0, we’d have grabbed it.
“It’s a massive win for us at this stage of the season. I don’t see any reason why we can’t push on up the league and that’s something we’re looking to do.”