« KILLIE BOSS BACKS POWER IN FRIMPONG TACKLE ROW

KILMARNOCK manager Alex Dyer has defended midfielder Alan Power in the face of criticism from Celtic captain Scott Brown. The Parkhead veteran claimed Power had ‘lost the plot’ after his tackle on Jeremie Frimpong led to the Celtic youngster leaving the field on a stretcher towards the end of their 3-1 victory at Rugby Park on Wednesday. Brown insisted the Irish midfielder was looking to smash someone, claiming he had ‘picked on’ the diminutive teenager out of frustration. But Dyer, who will be in charge of Kilmarnock until the end of the season following the dismissal of Angelo Alessio last month, insisted there was no case for his player to answer. ‘Alan Power is a good player,’ said Dyer ahead of today’s trip to face St Johnstone. ‘He went in and produced a good tackle — if it hadn’t been, then the referee would have blown his whistle because the linesman was right there. ‘Alan’s been outstanding for this football club and I’ll always back him, 100 per cent. ‘He doesn’t “pick on” anyone. The ball was there to be won and he made a fair challenge to win it, so let’s just move on.’ Brown also maintained that Power’s lunge on Frimpong could have been ‘a leg-breaker’ and that the player hadn’t spoken to Frimpong afterwards but Dyer claimed that was also nonsense. He said: ‘I 100-per-cent disagree with that. Obviously, we’re glad that the lad wasn’t hurt. Alan went down to the treatment room to see how he was but he had already left. ‘I didn’t know it at the time but Alan had already gone over to him on the pitch after it happened. Listen, he’s an honest professional. He’s hard but fair and he’ll do that in training — tackle you and then pat you on the back.’