Kilmarnock V Aberdeen at Rugby Park : Match Preview

11 April 2015 12:31
Kilmarnock V Aberdeen - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.


Slater returns for Dons clash

Craig Slater returns from suspension for Kilmarnock's Scottish Premiership clash with Aberdeen at Rugby Park on Sunday.

Manuel Pascali is also free after a one-match ban kept him out of the defeat at Motherwell last week.

Killie's club captain has served a one-match suspension but is struggling with an ankle injury sustained in training.

While Kilmarnock still retain the ability to determine where they will play their football next season manager Gary Locke will remain relaxed.

After a seven-match unbeaten run Killie lost to two of the teams below them, Ross County and Motherwell, as the race to beat the drop heats up.

The eighth-placed Ayrshire club are seven points ahead of second-bottom Well with a game in hand ahead of Saturday's fixtures.

And it is that cushion which is encouraging for Locke, although a home game against Aberdeen before a trip to Celtic next midweek could hardly be a more difficult pre-split brace of games.

"I wouldn't say I was worried," he said. "Obviously you look at the league table and it is tight.

"I am pretty sure I am the same as the players. We are well aware of the situation but we are still in a reasonably good position at the moment.

"We are still a few points clear and if we win a few games we can take ourselves out of that equation.

"I would be more worried if we had to rely on other people.

"But it is very much in our own hands and we have to make sure that we win a few games in the next two or three weeks and if we do that we will be okay.

"We are obviously not happy with the last two results.

"I was pleased with the first half against Motherwell, not so pleased with the second.

"It is important now that we maintain that first-half standard for 90 minutes and try to get a few wins on the board as quickly as possible.

"We have a big period coming up and with the way Ross County and Motherwell are doing we have to make sure that we win a few games so we don't get dragged into it."

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes is not worried about the possibility of letting the runners-up slot slip through his grasp for the second season running.

The Dons boss watched in horror last year as his exhausted side stumbled through the last 10 games of the season before throwing second spot away in the final seconds of the campaign.

Motherwell's Craig Reid left Pittodrie stunned when his last-gasp winner on the final day allowed the Steelmen to leapfrog the Reds.

McInnes is still sore about that goal after claiming keeper Jamie Langfield had been fouled in the build-up.

But the Granite City boss insists this year's side are made of tougher stuff.

They lead third-placed Inverness by 11 points following Wednesday's 1-0 win over the Highlanders and look certain to claim their highest league finish since 1994.

McInnes told RedTV: "We don't have any trepidation about the remainder of the season.

"Our form in the last 10 games of last season season didn't replicate what it had been earlier in the campaign.

"We only got three wins and a few draws out of the last 10 games.

"That impacted on us and meant that we went into the last game of the season in a position where we lost out on second place because of a poor refereeing decision. That is fact.

"But our form wasn't convincing in that last 10 games.

"We are well aware of the need to finish this season strongly and that's what we are trying to do.

"Personally, I felt I stuck by the players who had had a hard season because I had the trust in them to keep getting results.

"But I feel I've got the luxury of being able to chop and change and freshen things up now. I will continue to do that between now and the end of the season."


Source: PA