While great swathes of the country spent the international break cursing, grousing and hissing through clenched teeth at Scotland’s dismal displays in the World Cup qualifiers, Miles Addison and his Kilmarnock colleagues used the down time to more profitable effect.
Gordon Strachan may have the deeply furrowed brow of a man who looks like he has been resting his forehead on a horse drawn plough for hours on end but there have been plenty of concerned scowls down Rugby Park way of late too.
A 6-1 trouncing to Celtic and a 4-0 reversal to Aberdeen prior to that international intervention on the schedule gave Lee Clark and his men plenty to ponder. Conceding 10 goals in two games is always going to be hard to stomach but, like a handful of antacids, time can be a good healer. So can a good win. “I think the break came at the right time,” said Addison, after Kilmarnock put those earlier woes behind them and winkled out a hard-earned 1-0 victory over St Johnstone in Perth. “Everyone needed a bit of a shaking down and a look in the mirror really. We are professional footballers and conceding 10 goals in two games is going to hurt. It did hurt people and people showed that in the wrong way. This performance showed it hurt in the right way and proved we want to do well for the club. St Johnstone are a tough team and we matched them. There were question marks around everyone after a tough two games. Are we man enough? Are we strong enough mentally and physically? The mental test was a big one and we came through it. Ten goals in two games is hard to forget but one of the first things I said in the changing room was that those last two games are gone. I think it showed that they have been swept under the carpet and I want people to talk about that now.”
In the Fair City, those of a St Johnstone persuasion probably thought the end result wasn’t fair. The hosts had a couple of good chances in the first half and had a decent shout for a penalty turned down but Kilmarnock’s gritty resolve, in a match which won’t be fast-tracked into the pantheon of classic encounters, was admirable and the Ayrshire side deserved to take something.
Addison, making his return to the first team after a month on the sidelines with an ankle injury, played his part in a sturdy Kilmarnock rearguard action. A first clean sheet in the league this season was something to savour. “That was the main aim,” said the former England under-21 international. “Some people think it’s a negative way to approach a game but we know we can always get a goal so if we get a clean sheet we can win a game. That’s what everyone needs to get drilled into their heads. It’s been a long time.”
It was a tough shift for Addison and his defensive partners but, aided by the excellent Jamie MacDonald in goal, the collective effort was rewarded with maximum points and a first league win in two months.
“Those previous results were the least Jamie deserved because he has been brilliant for us,” added Addison. “Jamie is different class and he is the best shot stopper I’ve seen. This result was for him.”
With 17 new players arriving in the summer and a list of injuries leading to more choppings and changings than a lumberjack with a sizeable wardrobe to get through, Kilmarnock were unsettled even more early on in this encounter when Jonathan Burn departed with a broken nose. It was St Johnstone, though, who took one where it hurts as Burn’s replacement, Scott Boyd, bundled in a 75th minute winner from a corner. “Did it go down as his goal?” asked Addison of that scrambled, tangled decisive breakthrough. “Some thought it was Martin Smith’s goal and everybody was arguing about it in the changing room. I think I may have got the last nick?”
They all count in this game, of course. Now Kilmarnock face a tussle with Inverness Caley Thistle this weekend. Both sides are on nine points, with goal difference just keeping them out of the top six. Crisis? What crisis? “When Killie are spoken about it’s a bit of a talk down and a bit negative,” suggested Addison. “We are on the same points as Inverness and people are saying they are having a good season. Why are they not saying the same about us? If we go there and win next weekend, then we’ll see what people are saying about us then.”
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