KILMARNOCK will tomorrow encounter their seventh different opponent this season but have still to address one particular challenge.
It will feel as if they know it well already given that it has become a routine topic of conversation, the Ayrshire club having yet to register a first competitive win of the campaign. Overcoming SPFL Premiership leaders Inverness Caledonian Thistle tomorrow would allow them to change the subject, of course.
Kilmarnock's frustration has so far pervaded both league and Scottish League Cup fixtures - Hamilton Academical won a first-round tie at Rugby Park last month - and they will be piqued should that run continue to show little sign of coming to an end. Their focus on elevating their league position has been disturbed too often by lapses in concentration, and taking their eye off the ball again tomorrow will likely result in it winding up in their net.
Inverness have scored 10 times in the league already, a statistic which has proven easy to translate given the Highland side have shown a tendency to repeat themselves this season; scoring more than once in four of their five fixtures so far. "Inverness all work extremely hard for each other and they've got quality as well," said the Kilmarnock manager. "Terry Butcher deserves a lot of credit. His team needed rebuilding and he's done it again."
Johnston is still looking for spare parts, though. His intention has been to repair his side's inefficient defence and spluttering attacking intent, with Nacho Novo, the former Rangers forward, and the former Hearts defender Ismael Bouzid this week joining David Silva - a winger released by Kilmarnock a year ago - and erstwhile Tunisia internationalist Tijani Belaid on trial. "They've only been in a few days and trained," said Johnston. "We are still short and with [Paul] Heffernan leaving [to Hibs] it frees up a bit of money for us."
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