Clarke in awe of his walking wounded
KILMARNOCK manager Steve Clarke was heartened by the strength of his squad after losing half of his defence in Tuesday’s draw with Ross County.
Centre-back Scott Boyd came on for his first Ladbrokes Premiership appearance of the season after Gordon Greer went off with a groin strain, before Greg Taylor replaced the injured Stuart Findlay at half-time.
Killie came back from two down at half-time to claim a draw and Clarke is comfortable going into tomorrow’s visit of Motherwell with the injured pair set to miss out.
“It shows the value of having a squad that is fit and ready to take their opportunity when it comes,” Clarke said.
“I always say to the players that are not involved week in, week out, that they have to be ready for their chance.
“Scott came off the bench and did well, Greg Taylor came off the bench and did well.
“The team improved in the second half so both of them did themselves a lot of good.”
Clarke has demanded Killie take their second-half approach into the start of tomorrow’s game as they look to build on their 5-1 victory over Partick Thistle in their last Rugby Park encounter.
“It’s important to work harder, like we did in the second half,” he said.
“I felt we approached the game a little bit casually on Tuesday night.
“We have to get back on the front foot, we have to be aggressive in the press, we have to get the ball forward, we have to look a threat like we did in the home game against Partick.
“If we can get that level of performance again then we look forward to a good game against a tough Motherwell team.
“They are a very capable team, organised, know that they’re doing.”