Silly Killie! Boss Dyer rues hosts’ mad moments
Alex Dyer believed St Johnstone sensed fear in his Kilmarnock side yesterday.
The Rugby Park manager felt his men should have had two penalty kicks before their late collapse, but admitted they only had themselves to blame for the defeat.
Killie just couldn’t cope with going down to 10 men after Ross Millen was sent packing after an hour’s play.
Dyer said: “They got on the front foot and maybe they smelt a little fear in us, then capitalised. It was a bad day.
“We were comfortable in the game and controlled it up to the point of the sending-off.
“That changed the game a little bit, but there was time for us to regroup and organise ourselves.
“We gave away two goals from silly errors.
“It was a sending-off. I don’t think he caught the lad but he dived in, he was out of control a little and his studs were showing.
“He thought he could go and win the ball. He was late.
“Hopefully the player isn’t hurt. I don’t think he touched him, but it is a sending-off.”
A red card is frustrating enough for a manager, but Dyer then had to watch Stuart Findlay gift Saints a winner with a poor back-pass in injury time.
“Stuart is honest. He knows what he did,” added Dyer. “He’s experienced enough to know what he should have done.
“We were down to 10 men and you should just put it in the stand and regroup.
“He didn’t do that. We have to learn.
“It wasn’t fatigue. He sprinted, got past his opponent and should have just cleared it.
“But he didn’t. He played a blind pass, he didn’t look. His head was down and he just played it back to the goalkeeper.
“He should have just cleared it himself. He has to learn from that.”
Dyer felt his team should have had two spot kicks against Ross County in midweek and maintained they had another couple of credible claims.
He said: “Like the other night, we had, I think, two clear penalties — especially the first one on Burke.
“We’ll keep plugging away and doing what we do to get those opportunities.
“Hopefully one day one of the refs will give us one of them.
“Those decisions make a difference but the mistakes were ours. We could easily just have come away with a draw. We didn’t do that.
“It’s early days but you don’t want to be left behind.
“We have to start winning games. The longer you leave it, the more anxious players and managers get.”