Branescu’s apology a strength, says Burke

With two wins on the bounce, Kilmarnock look to have emerged from the doom and gloom of their recent league slump but winger Chris Burke is not surprised and claims that the way they handled goalkeeper Larentiu Branescu’s sending off at Tynecastle on Wednesday night illustrates the reason the team have been able to turn things around.

The 25-year-old Romanian was sent off for a silly second yellow card and left his colleagues facing a Hearts onslaught in the final period of the game.

But the Rugby Park side held firm and were able to minimise the damage done by the sending-off. Burke said: “What was good about Laurentiu is that he came straight in and apologised to the group.

“He spoke very well and the boys all appreciate that. It was a moment of madness and he did say that he hopes to learn from it – and I’m sure he will. As long as you don’t make the same mistake twice.

“It’s a massive learning curve for him, he is still progressing in the game as a goalkeeper and knows he was in the wrong. But I would expect that [fronting up] from the whole group. It’s what we demand in training and everybody is accountable.

“That’s how we have come out of this sticky patch – because we have good characters and place demands on each other, day-in, day-out. We know we will get results because of what a good dressing room we have.”

That offers Kilmarnock confidence as they travel to Pittodrie to face Aberdeen on Scottish Cup duty tomorrow. Burke, left, added: “In the last two games we have won despite suffering setbacks. Going 1-0 down against Ross County, we dealt with that, and then going to Tynecastle and getting three points despite putting pressure on ourselves.

“We stuck together despite going down to ten men and Hearts being in the ascendancy, and that’s the most pleasing thing for me. We have shown great character.”