Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke insists he is not worried by the way his side are starting matches, after they came back to earn a 1-1 draw with Hamilton in the Ladbrokes Premiership.
The Ayrshire side found themselves behind once again when Dougie Imrie nodded in James Keatings’ wicked delivery but a Rory McKenzie leveller right on the stroke of half-time gave them a share of the spoils.
It was the sixth successive match in which the Rugby Park side had lost the opening goal, but Clarke dismissed claims that it was anything other than a freak statistic.
“These little things happen in football”, the Killie boss explained. “Sometimes you get a run of things like that and you lose consecutive goals. We’ve lost free-kick goals in our last two matches too. These things happen, it’s how you deal with them.
“Hamilton were good today. They got the game the way they wanted because we didn’t impose ourselves enough on the game. At the end of the day it’s probably a decent point for us.”
The draw does extend the Rugby Park side’s unbeaten run in the league to five, and they now sit on their own in second place having played a game more than the four teams directly below them.
“At the end of the day it’s another point. That’s 13 out of 15. If you’d said to me five games ago we’d have 20 points and be second in the league then I’d have taken that.
“It was a scruffy match. There was a lot of huff and puff and not much great football today. Hamilton imposed their game on us more than we imposed our game on them.”
Hamilton boss Martin Canning cut a more pleased figure after the match, clearly emphasising the fact that the point was better appreciated in Lanarkshire.
“Killie are a good side who are doing a lot of things right and we knew it was going to be difficult to come down here and get a point.
“We were maybe a little unfortunate that we didn’t win the game with Keatings’ chance but our effort and application today was spot on.
“We knew that Kilmarnock would put us under pressure at times. They’re playing with confidence at the minute and have that belief that they’re gonna win and score goals.
“We handled the defensive side of the game very well today which I’m pleased about.”
