Kenny Shiels only thinks about what is best for the team representing Kilmarnock when making decisions. He is surprised there has been so much interest in why he substituted a substitute in Saturday's game against Aberdeen which ended goalless. Sheils replaced William Gros with Matthew Kennedy five minutes from time - as a tactical change.
This was just 13 minutes after the French striker had been introduced into the game. Shiels, who will have former Dundee United and Aberdeen midfielder Mark Kerr coming on trial tomorrow for a couple of days, is puzzled at the fuss his tactics has caused.
Ahead of the William Hill Scottish Cup fourth-round replay at home against Dundee, he said: "I think it should be normal practice. I don't think it is worth commenting on, I don't think it is a big thing. If you bring someone on and you see after 15 minutes that it hasn't had the impact that you had hoped, and you feel the need to change again, then you do that. William is strong and quick but he didn't have that impact. I explained to William in the dressing room. He accepted what I said. I didn't apologise because I didn't see any reason to apologise. I have done it before. It should be a normal thing. As a manager you do what is best for the team and I will never deviate from that. I will always do that. Personalities don't come into it. I have to do what is best for the team on every occasion. The decision I made on Saturday was for the best of the team. It could have been anybody, it just happened to be the first substitute who was brought on."
The winners of Tuesday's replay will take on Hibs at Easter Road in the next round. However, the Killie manager does not believe his side are in the driving seat following their draw against the First Division side at Dens Park.
He said: "We have eight players out injured - James Dayton and David Silva have only rank outside chances of making it - two who are ineligible and we have let three players go. So we are 13 players bereft of what we could have had on January 1. So I would say that they have a great chance. Dundee are a more of an SPL team playing in the First Division and they have proved that. They will be a major threat and we will be on our guard. Hopefully we can progress. It is going to be hard but we will be up for it." Over the next couple of days Shiels will have a chance to consider if Kerr is any better than he has in the squad at the moment. He said: "Mark Kerr is coming to train with us this week. He has been playing in Greece and he is trying to get himself back to play in the United Kingdom. We can offer all the benefits of playing with an SPL club and hopefully we can offer him the chance to get back on track."
Source: FOOTYMAD
