SUPER SNUB CHANGED THE GAME
Turbo-charged Power credits Lions’ postponement rejection for firing up Covid-hit Rugby Park troops
Saturday’s clash went ahead after the Ayrshiremen’s request for a postponement was rejected by the Lions.
And even though they only had two training sessions to prepare after being ordered to self-isolate for 14 days, the Rugby Park side – who scored their first goal at the Tony Macaroni Arena in 15 years – showed no signs of ring rust in a gritty victory.
Dyer had wanted more time to work with his team following the upheaval caused by six players testing positive for coronavirus at the start of the month.
But midfielder Power insists Livingston’s knock-back ensured that everyone in the dressing room was even more fired up for the clash.
Power, who was immense in helping Killie collect their third straight Premiership win, said: “You have to use things like that.
“Did it give us a bit of a boost and something to fight for? Yeah.
“And you do have to use that, especially when you’ve only had a couple of days training to get a bit of bite about you.
“I can’t really blame them either – it’s a chance for them to get a leg up as well. We don’t expect any favours.
“There was no anger. The way the world is at the minute we have to accept things the way they’re going.
“Every team is going to be hit in different ways unfortunately, so you have to overcome it and do your best. That’s what we did.
“If you put in a good shift, the results will look after themselves.”
Former Lincoln City player Power was happy with his fitness levels – despite being limited in what he could do in the house during self-isolation. The 32-year-old added: “I didn’t feel too bad actually. “Maybe it was just adrenalin or missing football for a bit. Generally it felt all right. We had programmes that were sent out and we did that every day. Personally, I did a lot of skipping and highi n t e n s i ty interval t ra i n i n g classes we were sent. I was trying to keep myself sane.”
But Aaron Tshibola and Chris Burke, who converted a penalty, had the Ayrshire team ahead before the break, then Greg Kiltie capitalised on Robby McCrorie’s error to slot home the third.
And Power reckons Kilmarnock can give themselves a big pat on the back for coming away with all the spoils.
He said: “Our game plan was to weather the storm in the first 15, 20 minutes.
“We thought they’d come out quick and we didn’t want to concede that early.
“But we bounced back well and I’m pretty proud of the lads for what they’ve been through in the last couple of weeks to put in a performance like that.
“We’ve got a togetherness and it’s been like that for years, certainly since I’ve been here.
“We’re a team that fights for each other, 100 per cent work rate to get results.
“We’re not a team that can pass our way through games and relax – we need to be high-tempo and do our work.”
Kilmarnock’s win cemented their place in fifth and Power insists the squad are in a good spot after only taking two points from their first five Premiership games.
The Irishman said: “Even at the start I felt we were playing well and maybe not getting the results that we deserved. Now we’ve put it right.
“We’re playing in different ways, we had to weather a storm on Saturday and to score three goals away from home is perfect. We
w what type of game it was ng to be, especially after having uple of weeks off. Coming to Livingston is a tall so the boys should be proud hemselves.” is boss Dyer insists Scottish ball needs to work together to through the Covid crisis after ther outbreak at St Mirren. heir game with Motherwell called off on matchday after Buddies told the SPFL that y couldn’t fulfil the fixture. e said: “I don’t think that at happened to St Mirren is surprise – it’s happened to us and it’s going to happen to many other teams. We have to look after one another, not use what’s going on as a blame game.
“St Mirren’s gone down but we hope they’re all well and safe.
“We can play the games any time, there are no supporters coming in at the moment.
“The SFA shouldn’t be looking at always blaming someone and having inquiries.
“The whole country’s under pressure at the moment and football’s part of that.”