McInnes wants big impact from Killie on top-flight return

KiLMarnOCK are back up. The aim of all concerned is now to ensure they are running at full pelt by the time hostilities resume.

Six weeks after blair alston’s goal against arbroath almost

took the roof off rugby Park, the prospect of facing three of the country’s four best sides at the outset of their Premiership return is both daunting and exhilarating.

Make no mistake. Derek Mcinnes’ side may be wearing the badge of the top division’s new boys when Dundee United visit ayrshire on July 30, but the manager’s ambitions extend way beyond merely retaining their top-flight status.

‘Sometimes as a newlypromoted team you can get that bounce and that excitement,’ he said. ‘We were 28 years in the top flight and, for the first time in that period, we found ourselves out of it last season and it’s not where we wanted to be.

‘So we need to appreciate what we have got, but we also need to make sure we set about the Premiership. We don’t just want to go up there and survive. To do that, we have to recruit well.’

as things stand, Kerr Mcinroy and alan Power are the only additions to the squad which edged out Dick Campbell’s men to ensure their exile from the top flight would extend no longer than one season.

it’s no slight on those players who got the job done to state that a further influx of experience and quality is going to be required in the coming weeks to ensure that their ambitions of steering well clear of trouble are to be realised.

‘You want to test yourself against the better teams and we feel we can give a good account of ourselves in the Premier League,’ added Mcinnes.

‘it’s important to give ourselves every chance to be ready. So recruitment and making sure we are fine-tuning players’ fitness and getting that match sharpness as we go along (is important).

‘We have five friendlies and four League Cup ties ahead of the Dundee United game, so it’s not our prime focus at the minute. We still have a lot of work to do.

‘Once we get the squad complete, we can say with far more confidence what our intentions are. but our intentions are not to be involved in relegation.’

The unfurling of the Championship flag at home against United comes before a trip to ibrox, and Celtic travelling down the M77.

‘We’ll get the easy ones out of the way first,’ Mcinnes smiled. ‘Obviously, we were eagerly anticipating the fixtures coming out and we knew we would be at home first having won the title.

‘but it’s still a long way off. We’ve got a lot of preparation to do. everyone at the club is working extremely hard for us to be as ready as we can be.’