SUBTLE CHANGES AT KILLIE SAYS CLARKE

KILMARNOCK manager Steve Clarke has restricted himself to subtle changes ahead of his first match in charge.

The f ormer St Mirren player returns to Scottish football action 30 years after l eaving Paisley for Chelsea when his Killie side take on Rangers at Ibrox tomorrow.

Clarke watched his new team win 2-0 at Partick Thistle on the day he was named as boss and he will not overwhelm the players with tactical alterations.

“You can’t come in and bombard them with too much i nformation. That would just confuse them,” he said.

“We have worked on one or two basic principles that should be good enough to help us go forward, and slowly over the course of the season we will keep adding little principles, better principles, hopefully a better style of play and better play on the pitch and the results will improve.

“It’s going to be slowly, slowly, that things will start to change but, hopefully, the Kilmarnock fans will see one or two changes in the coming matches.”

Killie f ace a Rangers team reeling from their Betfred Cup semi-final defeat by Motherwell. But Clarke knows players can quickly bounce back.

“I know football players are very good at handling disappointment and moving on to the next game very quickly. They are professionals and that’s what they are conditioned to do. I’m sure Rangers will be out there giving their best, as will we.”