Dyer: Killie dug so deep after Eamonn’s red
Accies were under the weather after being hit by the coronavirus but Kilmarnock managed to pass their test with 10 men.
The Rugby Park men picked up the points the hard way to creep further up the table when Nicke Kabamba struck the second- half winner af ter Eamonn Brophy’s early red card.
Hakeem Odoffin levelled for Hamilton just eight minutes after Greg Kiltie fired the home side into a 10th-minute lead.
Alex Dyer hailed his men for staying strong to claim another crucial win, despite insisting Brophy’s red card was harsh.
The Killie boss said: “It was a brilliant win.
“Every player worked hard and it’s three good points that were well earned, especially after we went down to 10 men.
“The character in the team was excellent. It would have been easy for them to drop their heads but they didn’t and kept passing the ball and created a lot of chances
“The red card was a strange one because I don’t think Brophy went to hurt their lad but it was a little bit high. If he had got a yellow I would have said fair enough but the ref gave a red and we had to move on.
“We went down to 10 men but it didn’t affect us too much.”
Killie were at it from the first whistle and Kiltie fired them ahead inside 10 minutes with a slick finish after great set-up play by Chris Burke.
Killie were in control but Accies, without Ross Callaghan and Livi goal hero Kyle Munro due to a Covid scare, stunned them by levelling within eight minutes. Odoffin headed home after his first effort from David Templeton’s free- kick was saved by keeper Danny Rogers.
The tone of the game changed five minutes later when Brophy picked up a debatable red after going in late on Scott McMann.
Killie refused to settle for a point and Kabamba had a header cleared off the line before reacting quickest in 57 minutes to force the ball home after Ryan Fulton had blocked Burke and Gary Dicker.