Source: Team_Talk
Calderwood wants Killie improvement
Jimmy Calderwood has told his Kilmarnock players to cut out the "stupid" errors which have left their SPL status in serious danger.[LNB] Calderwood could not fault his team's effort during Saturday's 2-1 home defeat by St Johnstone but felt "laziness" in defence had caused them to squander a lead.[LNB]Frazer Wright's diving header put Killie ahead in the 38th minute after captain Craig Bryson had broken his nose heading on one of nine first-half corners the hosts forced.[LNB]But Kenny Deuchar headed home the equaliser from close range a minute before the interval after Collin Samuel had rolled the ball back for Murray Davidson to send over an inch-perfect cross.[LNB]St Johnstone dominated possession after the break and Samuel volleyed a 75th-minute winner before the visitors harried Kilmarnock out of their stride as they tried to salvage a point.[LNB]The defeat, Kilmarnock's ninth in 10 SPL games, saw them joined by bottom club Falkirk on 29 points with Saturday's meeting between the teams set to decide the relegation issue.[LNB]Killie travel to Aberdeen beforehand on Wednesday and Calderwood expects Bryson to recover in time along with Scott Severin, Allan Russell and Manuel Pascali, who all missed the Saints game.[LNB]Calderwood told his players to look at the example of former Leeds defender Michael Duberry, whose conviction helped prevent Kilmarnock making more advantage of their first-half pressure.[LNB]"I think it's laziness and maybe fear but that's when you have got to get on to each other," he said.[LNB]"You saw how Duberry and (Graham) Gartland in the end defended with corners or free-kicks or anything that came through the middle. They just had a desire to go and win the ball.[LNB]"Whereas Samuel knocked it back 20 yards to Davidson and we're still standing there. That's criminal. They should know that, that's ABC, taking nothing away from my own responsibility.[LNB]"But I thought they gave everything. That's normal when you're at the bottom of the league, you don't get the breaks you deserve.[LNB]"I thought we played really well first half against a good St Johnstone team and if we had got the second goal I thought we would have won the game.[LNB]"We never played poorly against St Mirren and lost, and we definitely never played poorly against a good St Johnstone team and lost.[LNB]"I know I'm not easy to get on with we lose games but they are doing their best. It's just stupid, individual things that are causing us problems."[LNB]St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes was also impressed with the performance of Duberry but he is resigned to losing the English defender in the summer.[LNB]"I can't twist his arm, I can't even twist his little finger," McInnes said. "There's no question we would like to keep him. He's an experienced player, he has pride in his performance and his job and you can see why he has played at a really good level.[LNB]"Ultimately I think family will win over football, which I totally understand.[LNB]"But while we have him we've got to enjoy him and I enjoyed watching him today."
