“It wasn’t perfect but everyone of them battled hard”
Derek McInnes quotes from the post-match press area at Rugby Park:
“We have a strong record here but that guarantees you nothing.
“Every game we have won here we have had to get our hands dirty, do the yards and compete. I thought we competed well throughout; we were just looking for more fluency in the first half.
“It was a bit untidy. I wanted us to use the wide areas more.
“Certainly we were looking for more shots. We turned down a number of opportunities in the first half after we got into some good areas in and around the box.
“Kilmarnock do defend deep and it allows you to take shots on from the edge of the area and if you can get a deflection, it gives the keeper no chance. It is something we spoke about before the game and reminded the players of at half time.
“Ryan takes that on board, and that is where the first goal comes from. It isn’t the cleanest of strikes, but it is a shot on goal and we get our reward from that.
“Ryan and Scott Wright got the nod at the start of the season, they have that freedom behind the main striker to go and play, but with that comes a responsibility to score goals. I am still looking for more from him because we see his quality very day in training.
“There is a very good player there and we are seeing signs of that this season.
“I thought Kilmarnock thereafter, some of their play was quite rushed and we forced them to put the ball into areas where we were strong. I thought my three centre backs in the second half were outstanding, especially big Ash. He stood up to everything they threw at him and the physical threat of Kabamba. It gave us a good platform to see out the game, Joe wasn’t really tested.
“We defended well in the main.
“But we would have ideally got the second goal earlier as it is never over until you get the second.
“We have got some good attacking players and we want them to try and express themselves. If you get into good areas, we want them to have the confidence to take shots on, there is no harm done if they miss or make the wrong pass. I would rather that they tried to do the right thing and try to be positive.
“It wasn’t perfect but everyone of them battled hard and stood up to what we had to face. It is another 2-0 victory on the back of last weekend.
“Tommie Hoban went off with a hamstring injury, he felt it at half time. It is the last thing that we need with the defensive injuries that we have. We have six defenders at the club and three of them are injured. (Michael Devlin, Greg Leigh and now Tommie). It does put a really strain on us but Ross McCrorie can go back in and play there. He showed his versatility.
“You never get too obsessed with the league table, but it is pleasing to be up there (level on points with Celtic.)
“We have got four very important games coming up. If we can come out of those games and still be in and around where we are then we will be pleased. We have got it all to do. If we can maintain these sorts of numbers, then we are on track to have a good season.
“We have had four goals and two clean sheets in the last two games. We have had a lot of games in the west at the moment, it has been a big demand on us, but it is just the way it is. Winning at home last week and winning away today gives us the confidence going into the Motherwell game.”
