Slater is ‘fairly confident’ of getting positive play-off result
THE post-match mood among the home players at Kilmarnock on Saturday could, it seems, hardly have contrasted more with that in the Falkirk dressing room some 16 or 17 hours earlier but there remains a belief at Rugby Park that class can overcome form in the forthcoming Premiership play-offs.
Two wins in 13 matches, and a failure to win the matches that mattered against those around them since the Premiership split, suggests a profound difference in mindset when compared with that of the Bairns, who have suffered just a solitary defeat in a run of 14 matches that has included vital wins against then title-chasing Rangers and, most recently, Hibs.
The best way of turning that mindset around by Thursday is, then, for Kilmarnock to remind themselves that they have been operating at a higher level, an approach that Craig Slater, their 22-yearold midfielder, endorsed after his side relinquished a half-time lead to alreadyrelegated Dundee United on Saturday.
“I think we need to remember that we are the team in the top league, so if we take the game to Falkirk there is no reason why we cannot win both games,” he observed.
Part of a side that had recovered from Mark Durnan’s early goal to move ahead through goals from Kallum Higginbotham and Tope Obadeyi, only to succumb to United’s last Premiership blast as two goals from Simon Murray and one from Harry Souttar settled the issue, he was not pretending that Kilmarnock do not have problems to address.
“This game would have been a great chance to take some momentum into the play-off but we lost too many slack goals, and it’s not good enough,” he said.
“I think we need to have a look at ourselves, and start afresh from when we come into training on Monday morning, and take that into the play-off. I think we’ve got good players here and if we play well together, we can pull out a result for the fans.”
Slater admitted that there is an element of puzzlement as to what has put Kilmarnock in this situation.
“I don’t think it is through a lack of effort. Everyone is giving it 100 per cent, but things just aren’t going right for us, and it has been that way all season. So we’ve got to try to rectify our mistakes – individually and as a team – and start trying to kick on now,” said Slater.
“We’ve got two massive games coming up. What has happened before them doesn’t matter now. It’s about trying to pull out results in these next two games, and I’m fairly confident that we can do that.
“What has happened before this season doesn’t matter now. There have been a few times where we’ve just not had the breaks, but we find ourselves in the play-offs and it’s about character and working really hard, and staking a claim for a place in the play-offs game. Every one of us should be fighting hard for that and if we do that, we should be OK.”
He suggested, however, that there has been a collective responsibility.
“In terms of confidence, you can see out there, when things start to go wrong, that it takes big characters to keep trying to get on the ball and be brave. I don’t know if all of us can say we have done that over the past two games,” Slater admitted, while effectively laying down a challenge to his colleagues.
“At the start today we managed to get ourselves back in the game, but against Partick Thistle it just wasn’t good enough. So it is going to take big characters in the play-offs and you’ve got to have confidence. These fans come and pay money to see you play and everyone should be fighting to keep this club up.
“It’s a great club and if you are out failure to take there and you are not wanting to take the ball and you are hiding, then you shouldn’t be playing.”
It would, of course, only be natural if, since involvement in the play-offs became inevitable, the Kilmarnock players had held something back in a bid to be fit for those matches and manager Lee Clark acknowledged that he had rested senior players and, crucially in terms of the outcome, withdrawn Conrad Balatoni and Lee Hodson from the fray once they were on yellow cards on Saturday.
However Slater claimed that, consciously at least, there had been no shortage of on-field commitment.
“I think we knew we had two big games coming up, but I don’t think anyone was concentrating on the play-off games,” he said.
“We were just trying to take momentum into the play-offs because that is such a massive thing. Unfortunately we’ve let our standards slip again.
“Everyone will know where they went wrong, individually and as a team, and it’s now about working hard and being smart and being ready for the two games that are coming up.
“These games will be massive, psychologically and physically, and everyone has got to be ready.”
His fundamental message, however, is that everyone must be ready to take on maximum responsibility..
“Every one of us needs to be brave,” said Slater.