Dyer sees no reason to panic at Killie slump

KILMARNOCK manager Alex Dyer is refusing to panic over their Scottish Premiership form slump and is confident they can turn it around. The Rugby Park outfit have suffered six defeats in their last seven league outings and have not scored in those losses as they have slipped down to ninth in the table. Although Killie are just four points ahead of bottom club Ross County, they are also only four points behind fifth-placed Motherwell. And Dyer knows the hectic festive schedule, starting with their trip to Tannadice to take on Dundee United tonight, presents them with an opportunity to halt the run and climb the table. Dyer said: ‘It’s a big period, it always is between Christmas and January and we have to make sure we’re on the money every game and pick up enough points to stay in the bunch because, if you don’t, you’ll be looking down rather than looking up. ‘I believe we can turn it around because I believe in the players we’ve got. I believe they are good enough to do that and I believe I am good enough to do that. ‘We had a bad period at the start of the season and we picked up a few wins and I’m confident of doing it again. ‘We’ve not always been playing badly. We’ve lost games by a single goal. We’ve not been hammered, so it is small margins.’ United boss Micky Mellon admits their chastening 4-0 defeat at Kilmarnock earlier in the season was a major lesson in their return to the top flight. But he is not viewing tonight’s return as any sort of revenge mission following the loss at Rugby Park in August. ‘We kind of got sucked in where we left ourselves a bit vulnerable and gave away a few sloppy goals,’ said Mellon. ‘There were basics that you can’t let yourselves down with at this level and we got shown that on the day. ‘But we learned from that and made sure we moved on, and that’s been part of our redevelopment as a Premiership team.’