Burke: Tough start won’t Kil our hopes
KILMARNOCK winger Chris Burke has called for calm after his side suffered a third defeat in a week against Hearts on Saturday.
Lee McCulloch’s side succumbed to Esmael Goncalves’ early strike at Rugby Park to leave them without points on the board after two league fixtures.
Killie were also thumped 5-0 by champions Celtic in the Betfred Cup last Tuesday, but Burke insisted the Ayrshire men will get going soon.
“It’s not always going to be like this,” he said. “We are going to win games, it’s just a matter of time. We can’t put our heads in the sand – we have to rise above it.
“In football you can feel very low one week and then the next week you’re on a high – you can always affect and change things.”
But the former Rangers man has acknowledged it will take a monumental effort to pick up their first win when they clash with Celtic again at Rugby Park on Saturday. “It’s going to be very tough,” Burke said. “We played them last Tuesday in the cup and they’re a quality side, they even made a lot of changes and they’re still very strong.
“But what a way it would be to put things right, testing ourselves against the champions, we’re going to keep believing and make sure we stick together collectively as a group. We can’t lose an early goal against Celtic.
“You don’t want to concede early against any side, especially when you’re at home, I thought we did well until Hearts scored. Listen, it’s disappointing, but [the start] is not going to define our entire season, there’s a long way to go.”