Stephen Kenny Post Kilmarnock

"When you take over a team three points behind at the bottom of the league with 10 players in the treatment room you know you've got a challeng

Joy was short lived

Stephen Kenny commented after the Killie match:-

"It is very disappointing.  The biggest disappointment was the concession of the goals and how easily they were scored.  The first goal was an o.g. that we conceded from a corner.  I was really pleased by the way we got back into game straight away with a great finish by Stevie Crawford.

"When you concede the goals that we conceded and two from set plays, one from a throw in - three really from set plays altogether - you can't give up goals that cheaply and expect to achieve anything. Overall our defending on the day just wasn't good enough.

"On the flip side of it, in the second half down to ten men at 4-1 down, none of the players considered throwing the towel in. Everyone kept going for the 45 minutes. That is one thing I can take from the game, there was no lack of effort in the second half.  There was determination to keep going but we have a lot of work to do to make sure that we tighten up and make sure that we do not concede goals as cheaply as we did today."

Any hopes of a Dunfermline revival went with Souleymane Bamba's ordering off for appearing to raise his hands to Steven Naismith.  Steve Kenny said:

"I honestly didn't see it, it was on the far side and he had his back to me. Apparently it was for a raised hand; a push into the face but I will need to have another look at it.  The rule says if you push people in the chest it is a yellow but if you push people on the head it's a sending off.

"The initial foul didn't look anything, a lot was made of it.  I will have to see it again but I think it was some sort of push.  As far as I know his disciplinary record has been fairly good - that seems to be an unusual situation there.

"One of the areas where I was a bit disappointed was that we didn't put a tackle in the midfield area in the first half. I felt when Sol came on he was able to do that and was quite aggressive.  We are going to need to be more aggressive than we were today.

"OK we picked a technical side to come here but regardless of that you cannot ignore the fundamentals of defending - basic defending.  If you ignore that you get punished."

To the question during the media conference about Derry City's involvement in the FAI Cup Final on Sunday, 'How much a distraction has the Irish Cup Final been?' Steve responded.:-

"Absolutely none whatsoever, we have trained every day here for Kilmarnock bar one day off.  We have been in five of the last six with Dunfermline for the game against Kilmarnock and I wouldn't like to hear that used in that way.  That is definitely not the case.  We prepared well but just haven't defended well."

A follow up question was certainly below the belt and should have been ducked:-

'Would you accept that it might not look to good parading about Lansdowne Road with a Cup, after today?'

"I will cross that bridge when I come to it.  It's very unfair that comment.  An agreement was made with Dunfermline and Derry, it has absolutely no effect on what I do here at Dunfermline.  I haven't missed anything at Dunfermline and it is wrong of you to suggest that."

Steve Kenny assured fans that better times are just around the corner for the beleaguered Fifers.

"When you take over a team three points behind at the bottom of the league with 10 players in the treatment room you know you've got a challenge on your hands."

That challenge has never been greater as he reflected on 14 matches as a Manager in Europe without ever being so far behind at half-time.

"I have played against tough sides in Europe and never been 4-1 down at half time; it  was a new experience and was not a very nice feeling at all.

"We have good players coming back - Mark Burchill, Phil McGuire - should be back in the next couple of weeks and possibly Andy Tod.  We will lose Sol Bamba to suspension next week and Greg Shields picked up an injury there.  We might have Darren Young back next week - we shall see how we are fixed. When we get them back, we will be stronger as a unit.

"There was no lack of determination or effort as a unit, it was just that we defended poorly in the first half. The players tried to redeem themselves in the second half but it was too late to do that."

Kenny was especially disappointed to lose the first goal to Kilmarnock from a corner kick from the right:-

"We worked on defending that area yesterday and the last couple of days because we knew that Kilmarnock used that. They tried to hit Greer on the near post but it just came over the top of Greer and Simmons who was picking up Greer.  It hit Greg Shields on the head and he diverted it in.

"The second one they got from a throw in on the left and we haven't closed them down at all.  It was far too easy for them to get in in that area. There was a lack of communication there.

"One of my observations since taking over is that we are a quiet team. There are a lot of quiet lads in the group and they have conceded that themselves. I want more players to come out of their shell and show their true selves. You can be shy off the pitch but once you get on it you need to be vocal and show good communication."

Killie boss Jim Jefferies said:

"You have to be delighted to win any game 5-1. We started the game well and, even though we lost a well worked goal to equalise, we picked ourselves up. We scored an equally good goal ourselves to get the third and fourth.  We just kept plugging away and even though we scored one in the second half and had other opportunities you would take that scoreline any day of the week."

"It was a great way to bounce back; there were a number of good individual performances as well as a good team performance.

"I made the boys pretty aware that Dunfermline would come out of the traps today - they don't want to get detached, they have a new Manager with players thinking they want to impress him - so you have to start the game well and get on top of them.  We did that today."