After Kilmarnock’s opening day Premiership victory over Rangers, the discourse was largely dominated by Michael Beale’s side and their failings at Rugby Park. 

Their performance was not up to scratch, while Killie’s was top drawer. There were mentions of the pitch, but most recognised that the surface could not be used as an excuse for Rangers’ deficiencies last Saturday. 

A point that has been raised by pundits, fans, and even Beale himself since was the number of new players the Ibrox club had in their team. Five new boys started, including Jack Butland, Kieran Dowell, Cyriel Dessers, Sam Lammers, and Abdallah Sima. Their new £5million striker Danilo entered the fray from the bench during the second half.  

It’s a testament to Derek McInnes and his players that the hosts had eight fresh signings in their starting line-up and comfortably earned the 1-0 win. 

Robbie Deas was awarded man of the match, but in reality, it could have been any one of them, with Matty Kennedy, Corrie Ndaba, Marley Watkins, Kyle Magennis, Stuart Findlay, Lewis Mayo, and Will Dennis all superb. It's not just the efforts of the players on the pitch which deserve praise, though.

“I’ve been fortunate with the dressing rooms I have had here,” admitted the boss. “I inherited a really good dressing room and we went on to win the league [Championship]. Last season, you could maybe say it was the spirit and togetherness that really won the day for us in staying up rather than any sense of real quality or individuals. 

“I think this season, the signed boys are lucky to come into our dressing room. I really do. We have some really good lads and the club as a whole deserves a lot of credit. 

“There is a lot of support staff that works quickly to get players relocated, families up, kids into schools, boys into apartments and houses. The club is brilliant at that and there’s more than me and my football staff that have to encourage that settling-in period. It is so vital. A lot of boys are coming here for the first time and maybe even Scotland for the first time. 

“We are well aware of that and speaking to the boys who are currently here like Kyle Vassell and the senior players of making that extra effort with everybody. Last week was a sense of proper together performance. We all had each other’s backs and that is what it takes. 

“We are lucky that Billy [Bowie] owns the hotel and we can put them in there a lot of the time, but everyone wants to settle with kids and families as quickly as possible.

“Everyone is in a rush to do that and everything is rushed and accelerated to try and get everyone settled. You could not do it without a brilliant dressing room and brilliant support staff who try to do that.

“I remember how it felt when I went to England and went to France, these things are massively important. You have to make sure the player concentrates on his performance and training and not worrying about his kids and missus settling. We try hard at that and it is important.”

Finding a settled first XI was a struggle for McInnes last season for a variety of reasons. Only on a handful of occasions did the same line-up take to the field in consecutive games. 

Fans are keen to see the same team which triumphed against Rangers at Tynecastle this Sunday. And it seems they may get their wish. 

READ MORE: Danny Armstrong on Kilmarnock vs Rangers red card regret

McInnes said: "Only Joe Wright is missing. Vassell, Liam Donnelly, and Rory Mckenzie all played a bounce closed-door game on Tuesday and got important minutes. And I think Joe will be in full training next week. 

“We are not looking to make too many changes if any at all from the team, we were really pleased with last Saturday. But having the other players back into it is important because everyone has a part to play.”

There will be no further movement on the transfer front this week. He explained: "We were hoping on one that maybe we could have potentially got this week, but circumstances have changed at his club. Not permanently, just in terms of a couple of injuries and stuff."