Not much to cheer up Allan Johnston on his 40th birthday yesterday as his Kilmarnock side was on the wrong end of a 4-1 home defeat. Johnson was disappointed to see Gabriel Reuben sent off after only 22 minutes, a decision he felt was "harsh", which made the task of overcoming Dundee United near impossible. Reuben was sent off after being booked twice in quick succession. It still took United another 38 minutes to turn their numerical advantage into a goal, but three more goals followed before Kris Boyd's late reply, and the visitors have now notched up a five-in-a-row winning run. Johnston said: "It was always going to be a hard game against a confident United but I didn't think there was much in the game before the sending-off. The first booking was harsh and I think perhaps the referee was too keen to get his cards out. I can't complain about Gabriel's second booking but going down to 10 men is frustrating and spoils the game for everyone. I asked the ref (Euan Norris) about the double booking and also at 1-0 when the ball hit a United player's hand. He said it was unintentional, but both of them were big decisions."United have now scored 21 times in five games, and manager Jackie McNamara said: "The players haven't spoken about scoring four goals in games recently, they are just interested in keeping going to the final whistle. We are always confident of scoring, whether in the first minute or the last and even when the subs come on the are keen to get involved and grab a goal. The elements made it difficult and we told the players at half-time to keep playing football and moving the ball quicker as the play was condensed in the first half. Obviously that led to a lot of bookings but I don't think Kilmarnock can have any complaints as we have turned their players and the referee was been spot, including the red card as Stuart Armstrong was twice getting away from his opponent."
Source: ScottishFitba
Source: FOOTYMAD
