Manager Post Kilmarnock

07/02/12: JM - "It is important to see yourself on the same points as the other team rather than being stuck at the bottom."

Jim McIntyre said his team needs to take this result and build on it:-

"We had two fabulous opportunities one on one with the goalkeeper and Martin Hardie had a great effort that required Cammy Bell to pull off a super save when the ball came through a ruck of bodies. Kilmarnock also had chances in the second half and on the balance of play a draw is a fair result."

Level on points with Hibs was not what the Manager was seeking going into the game:-

"We wanted to win the game so that we could get above them but we never did that.  We have picked up a point to stop the rot of two defeats. It is important to see yourself on the same points as the other team rather than being stuck at the bottom."

The Manager was really pleased with the performance that his late call up, Chris Smith, made in the match.  Iain Turner sustained a back spasm in the warm up and had to pull out of the game:-

"Chris did really well.  It was difficult because any pass back was like a bouncing bomb.  Obviously there were a couple that were hard to deal with but in the main he was excellent and he had a fantastic save to keep us in the match."

It is too early to assess whether or not Iain Turner will be fit for Saturday's home game against Rangers but the Manager felt the stand in acquitted himself well on the night.

 Andy Kirk scored the Pars equaliser just a minute before half time and Macca was full of praise for his striker:-

"It was a fabulous finish because it is difficult when the keeper is coming out at you with pace like that. Andy Kirk is a master at that."

The match provided Jordan McMillan and Kyle Hutton with their Dunfermline debuts and Macca was very happy with their first showing for his team:-

"You could see that they had good quality. I thought MacMillan used the ball very well and in the first half had a couple of good balls into the striker. He looked to get forward and showed a lot of tenacity. Kyle has got composure in the middle park and the two of them will get better with the more games that they get.

"They have not had a lot of first team action but they will get stronger and stronger to the benefit of the team."

Kilmarnock Manager Kenny Shiels commented post match:-

"It's very frustrating for a manager to put his team out to attack and you're not getting your just desserts. All we can do is keep doing what we're doing, because the away results haven't matched the performances - and here again, we draw another game away from home. On reflection of the game, we're really disappointed not to have won, I'm trying to be as unbiased as I can.

"It's been our whole season away from home. I can count almost every game we've played away from home that's been similar to that. We're not getting goals for some reason. All we can do is keep doing what we're doing, because the away results haven't matched the performances - and here again, we draw another game away from home. We're fighting to get into the top six and I'm really disappointed that we didn't get a result tonight for everyone at the club because it would have given us a three points cushion. But we're in the top six now and we need to make damn sure we stay there."