Pre-Celtic: Fraser Murray

Kilmarnock head to Glasgow this weekend to face Celtic in the final fixture before the William Hill Scottish Premiership split, with confidence high after last Saturday’s 2-0 win over Motherwell at Rugby Park.

That result not only secured an important three points but also showed the character and resilience running through the squad—something midfielder Fraser Murray says the team has built throughout the season.

“Yeah, obviously the week before wasn’t a great result,” Murray said. “But we came in, everyone spoke to each other about what went wrong, and we had a good training week before the Motherwell game.
“Look, at this stage in the season every game’s a massive game. I think even before, even a month ago, two months ago, every game’s a big game. But Saturday especially, we had to make things right, and I think we did that.”

Bounce-Back Mentality

The ability to respond under pressure has become a defining trait of this Kilmarnock side, and Murray believes it’s something that’s been instilled over time under Derek McInnes.

“I think when we’ve had tough times, we’ve shown we can bounce back. That’s happened over the four years I’ve been here.
Especially Saturday – we came out with something to prove, and I think we did that.”

Strong Finish the Goal

With a place in the top six just out of reach, attention now turns to finishing the season on a high and laying the foundations for next year.

“We don’t want to coast along and just finish wherever we finish,” Murray said. “I think we look at it now as a table for ourselves – six teams there – so we want to finish as high up as we can.”

Confidence Building

On a personal note, Murray’s recent run of form in front of goal has provided a welcome boost for both him and the team.

“Yeah, I think that’s what I’ve tried to add to my game,” he explained. “The manager spoke to me and wanted me to try and add some more goals, and thankfully over the last few weeks I’ve managed to get a few.”

Asked what’s made the difference, he said:

“Being a wide player, you can sometimes get caught staying out of the box, waiting on the ball. So I’ve just been gambling more and making sure I’m in the right positions.”

And with momentum on his side, he’s hoping there’s more to come in the final run of fixtures:

“The goal against Hibs came at a perfect time, and then getting another on Saturday gave me the confidence to kick on in the game. Hopefully over the next five or six games I can add more goals and help the team.”

Celtic Challenge

Looking ahead to Saturday’s trip to Celtic Park, Murray knows it’s one of the toughest tests in Scottish football—but says the belief is there.

“I don’t think the pressure’s off. It would be silly of us to go into a game thinking we can’t win it. We’ve had a good week’s training, so we’ll be going there hoping we can get something from it.”

And tactically, he’s well aware of what’s needed to compete against Brendan Rodgers’ side:

“Sometimes you can’t always high-press against Celtic, you need to sit back at times. One of the main things is just staying concentrated. Their full-backs and forwards make good runs, it’s about tracking runners, talking to each other, being confident defensively. If we can do that, then we can take it from there.”