Pre-St Johnstone: Derek McInnes

Kilmarnock travel to McDiarmid Park this Saturday for a huge post-split clash.

With the campaign edging towards its conclusion, Derek McInnes’ side head to Perth knowing a victory could take them a huge step closer to securing top-flight survival – and for bottom-placed St Johnstone, it’s a must-win for their own reasons.

Killie come into this crunch clash on the back of two impressive home wins over Ross County and Motherwell, sandwiching a tough visit to Celtic Park. McInnes praised the response from his side, saying: “For the last two home games, we’ve played against teams who are in the bottom 6.

I thought we were the better team in both games, and picked up clean sheets. We ran into Celtic in between both, which was a tough one for us, but the response was what I would hope for and what I expect for the team.”

With form and momentum building, Killie are looking to take that belief on the road – something McInnes knows will be essential if the club is to finish in a strong position. “We’ve got two more home games and we’re strong at home,” he acknowledged, “but for us to finish 7th or 8th in the league, we’re going to have to pick up points on the road. Hopefully, Saturday is a case of that.”

Saturday’s opponents, St Johnstone, are in desperate need of points and will be throwing everything at this one. “If I was the St Johnstone manager, I’d still feel we had a real chance,” said McInnes. “I think they’ll come right after us.

They’ll see this as a real chance for them, being at home in particular. We’ve got to be ready to fight fire with fire.”

Despite their position at the foot of the table, Saints have proven they can pose problems for any team, having already beaten Celtic at home this season.

McInnes is well aware of their threat: “This is a St Johnstone team that, a couple of games ago at home, they beat Celtic. They’re capable of big moments in games… and they’ve got real attacking threats. It’s something that we’ve got to be mindful of.”

The Killie gaffer also acknowledged the psychological edge of a victory. “A win would put us in a really strong position in terms of meeting objectives now,” he said. “It would relieve a bit of anxiety about everybody at the club. We can just look forward to the last few games.”

And while the senior squad remains focused, the feel-good factor around the club was boosted midweek as Kilmarnock’s Under-18s lifted the Scottish Youth Cup in front of a strong travelling support at Hampden. “It was good to see so many Killie fans at the game, and my first team squad turned up showing their support as well. All in all, it was a good evening for everybody at Kilmarnock.”

Squad news

We are set to be without Joe Wright (hip) and Brad Lyons (groin) this weekend due to injury. Tom Wilson-Brown remains sidelined Kyle Magennis is aiming to be back in full training next week. Rory McKenzie should be fine after a full week’s training.