Lewis is wary of Alessio’s men playing leapfrog with Dons

JUST four months ago, Joe Lewis looked at Kilmarnock and saw a club seemingly in freefall. Humiliatingly knocked out of the Europa League by Welsh part-timers Connah’s Quay Nomads, the knives were soon out for new manager Angelo Alessio. But the team supposedly on a downward trajectory in July could leapfrog fourthplaced Aberdeen at the start of November with victory at Pittodrie this afternoon. And goalkeeper Lewis insists his side will treat Killie and Alessio with the utmost respect as the Dons aim to keep their mini revival on track after bouncing back from last Sunday’s horror 4-0 home defeat to Celtic by winning 1-0 at Hamilton in midweek. ‘So many people wrote Kilmarnock off after Connah’s Quay knocked them out of the Europa League,’ recalled Lewis. ‘They looked like a club in freefall after losing a really good manager in Steve Clarke. So to see how quickly they have steadied themselves and picked up points is impressive. ‘But anyone with a good knowledge of the game shouldn’t be surprised at how well they have come back with the players they have. ‘They are a good team who are competing at the top end of the table and we know we will need to give them 100 per cent of our attention today. ‘We are trying to find consistency after a couple of standout good performances and a couple of standout poor performances. ‘The Celtic and Rangers games were real blows for us and we need to try to eradicate those performances as they don’t reflect well on the team. ‘We need to put them behind us because we are not actually in a terrible position in the league.’ Lewis was speaking after the opening of the club’s impressive new £13million Cormack Park training ground in Kingsford. After cutting the ribbon to open the complex, the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson spoke of his belief that the first dedicated training ground in the club’s 116-year history would take his old charges to the next level. Lewis insists the pressure is now on the players to ensure top-notch facilities translate into improved performances on a match day. He said: ‘The opening of the new training ground is a massive achievement for the club and everyone who has worked so hard for it to become a reality. ‘The team and the management will be the immediate beneficiaries of it. ‘There are no excuses now we have these brilliant facilities.’ Aberdeen have a doubt over veteran midfielder Craig Bryson ahead of today’s visit of Killie to the Granite City. Defender Ash Taylor trained this week but he is not expected to be ready for his first outing since picking up a hamstring injury in July.