GARY DICKER has revealed that the pressure of fighting for their livelihoods in the Premiership play-off final has been the driving force for Kilmarnock this season.
The Irishman admitted that the terrifying prospect of losing top flight status gave him sleepless nights last season when Killie finished in second bottom position and needed to defeat Falkirk over two legs to survive.
Kilmarnock still have work to do if they are to avoid a repeat this season. They are on the same points total, 20, as this time last year.
They do hold a four-point advantage over bottom-placed Inverness Caledonian Thistle but the propensity for each of the teams ranked sixth to 12th beating each other suggests the fight at the bottom will be long and unpredictable.
The point secured at Firhill on Hogmanay, therefore, may prove to be a precious one as Lee Clark’s patched-up side were largely outplayed and rode their luck.
It was a brave performance, however, with Dicker having to fill in at centre back beside inexperienced Iain Wilson due to the spate of Rugby Park injuries.
He said: “Last year’s play-off was probably the first time I’d been in a real proper scrap where it was a do-or-die game. I didn’t sleep for a week. It wasn’t nice.
“You know it can change a lot of people’s careers – not just players but people working at the club. When you are younger, you think there’s always next year, always another team.
“But your career goes by in the blink of an eye. That’s what I keep saying to the lads – every day matters and every game matters.
“You don’t want to be involved in those games. I certainly don’t and I’m sure the rest of them don’t. They aren’t good for anyone especially the manager.
"It was a positive note to end the year on. We’d a lot of people playing out of position and it’s always good to get a clean sheet especially after the other night when we lost four to Hearts. The manager spoke to me during the week about filling in back there.
"You’ve just got to do it. I’d play in goal if I had to. I’ve only played centre half once before and that was 10 years ago. It’s just about getting used to it. I think we all dug in. There were a few good performances. I think as grew into the game in the second half and put them under a bit of pressure.
"They came at us early doors which you expect away from home but we grew into it and finished stronger in the end.
"If we get some of our bigger players back in January it will help.
"It is quite a young team. We’ve missed a few of the older lads and hopefully we can sign a few. They bring that bit more experience. People who have been about a bit can help us when we do have a few injuries because you can see we are down to the bare bones.”
While Dicker and Kilmarnock were content with their efforts, it was a frustrating end to the year for Partick Thistle who lost their top six spot.
One major positive was the return of Stevie Lawless in midfield as he was instrumental in most of their creative play and he was undoubtedly driven by a sense of injustice having been dropped for the previous match against Dundee.
His wonderful spin turn and clever pass to set up Kris Doolan in 40 minutes was the technical moment of the match and his precision cross in 59 minutes allowed Doolan to score, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Lawless said: “It was disappointing to miss out against Dundee after the result at Ross County but I couldn’t complain too much as the boys got the result. The gaffer would tell you I was pretty annoyed. But I tried to keep it in.
“I didn’t chap his door, I didn’t need to. He pulled me to tell me what was going on. I appreciated that.
“I thought that after we won the Ross County game it was a bit harsh. But it worked because the team won and the gaffer has to do what’s best for the team
“It’s good to be back in the team and I hope to get a run of games under my belt.
“It’s been a tough run in the past two or three weeks and it will be good to get the break to give us a chance of getting our legs back. We have a group of games up and we feel we can take points.
“We need to beat the teams in and around us and we knew the three games we’ve just had would make or break our season. So, to get seven points from nine is very pleasing.
“We’ve now got a few days off and that’s the first time I can remember we’ve not played on the 1st or 2nd of January. When we come back we’re going to Spain for a mini-pre-season. I’m going to take advantage of the few days off that we have and enjoy myself.”
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