Wright eyes two wins to give Killie outside chance of staying up

Kilmarnock manager Tommy Wright feels his side only have an outside chance of finishing in the coveted 10th spot in the Scottish Premiership.

Killie slipped back into the bottom two after going down 2-0 to Motherwell, who took a deserved lead through Devante Cole and wrapped up the points with a late Stephen O’Donnell effort.

Wins elsewhere for Hamilton and Ross County ensured there are just three points separating the bottom three with two matches left.

Wright’s side host St Mirren on May 12 while County and Accies face each other in Dingwall, and Killie then travel to Lanarkshire to take on the current bottom club.

“The positive is we now have 10-11 days before that game and we have got to make sure we win the next game,” he said.

“If we win the last two then we will certainly make the play-offs and it will give us an outside chance of making 10th spot.

“This wasn’t a good performance, it wasn’t shocking, but there were players who can do a lot better.

“But there was effort, we never let our heads go down. We know we have put ourselves back in the hole that we got out of the other week.”

There were plenty of positives for Motherwell boss Graham Alexander as his side moved up to seventh with their third league win since the split.

“The team’s been on a good run but there’s been some great training performances from certain players that have been knocking on the door,” Alexander said. “I felt it was an opportunity to reward them for how they have trained.

“The team’s been on a good run but there’s been some great training performances from certain players that have been knocking on the door,” Alexander said.

“I felt it was an opportunity to reward them for how they have trained.

Meanwhile, Hamilton are back in charge of their own survival destiny after Brian Rice’s team sealed a huge 2-1 win over St Mirren in Paisley.

Accies got lucky with two fortuitous finishes from Ross Callachan and David Moyo.

But Rice could not care less as his basement boys recorded their first win in 10 games to breath fresh life into their relegation rescue mission.

Aberdeen target Jamie McGrath’s 16th goal of the season made the final moments tense.

However, Hamilton held on for a win which means they are separated from drop-zone rivals Killie and Ross County by just three points, with Accies heading to Dingwall a week on Wednesday before hosting Killie on the final day.

Rice reckons this would be the biggest escape act yet.

“It would be like climbing Everest with your flipflops on,” said Rice, who watched from the stands as he began a two-game touchline ban.

“It would be the biggest achievement I’ve ever achieved with what we’ve been through this season.

“I’m absolutely delighted to come and win. It’s massive.”

Devante Cole scores Motherwell’s first goal.