soccer

Kilmarnock can beat the drop but need to tighten up - Bell

Yahoo Sports

Kilmarnock moved a point closer to safety on Saturday when they drew 2-2 with Dundee in an action-packed game where they led twice but then needed a late penalty save from Kelle Roos to avoid defeat. The result brought the team a point closer to 10th-placed St Mirren and boosted hopes of climbing away from the relegation play-off spot in the post-split fixtures. Former Kilmarnock goalkeeper Cammy Bell thinks the team has been demonstrating the ability to get the results they need but is concerned by defensive lapses that could prove costly if they aren't eradicated.

He told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast: "I do think they've got enough. They need to start showing it on a little bit of a more consistent basis. "They've got some games now where they're obviously facing everybody in the bottom six that they can go and make huge margins by winning games of football.

"I think they've got players going forward that can score goals. Defensively, it's always concerned me this season about Kilmarnock conceding far too many goals. And again, at the weekend, you look at the goals they conceded.

"Simon Murray, a top striker, is standing in the middle of the six-yard box all alone just to head into the back of the net. That's not acceptable. You're going to lose goals if you allow players like that the space and time in the box.

"So Neil McCann needs to find a way to be tighter defensively, not gift teams goals, and I think they'll be OK if they can do that. But they've got some big, big games coming up. " [BBC]