Joe Wright passes concussion tests and ready to feature for Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock defender Joe Wright is set to patch himself up to feature against Dundee United after several tests ruled out concussion following his head injury against Rangers.

The centre-back went off just before half-time at Ibrox on Wednesday and Killie conceded five goals in 24 second-half minutes to lose 6-0.

With Scotland’s specialist hospital for head injuries less than two miles from the stadium, Wright was able to get expert diagnosis and will start at Tannadice if some strapping allows him to head the ball without aggravating the bruising.

Manager Derek McInnes said: “Joe Wright has passed all his concussion tests. There was no concussion, it was just severe bruising. And it was a lot of pain when he was heading the ball afterwards.

“We sent him to the hospital after the game at the Queen Elizabeth. And eventually, they said they were happy, there was no need to scan or X-ray. So they validated that he was okay.

“For further clarification, we sent him for a CT scan (on Thursday) just to make sure his belt and braces were covered and that’s come back all clear as well.

“So it’s just managing Joe’s pain threshold. But in terms of all the tests and stuff, he’s absolutely sailed through all that. So we’re hoping that we can find a solution from heading the ball without bringing too much pain, because he does do a lot of heading the ball.

“We did miss him the other night, there’s no doubt about it, and we were a wee bit patched-up in that back line. If we can get him back, it’ll be a bonus for us. He might not look the prettiest.

“I think he was more concerned at some of the sights he saw at the Queen Elizabeth at half two in the morning, and he couldn’t wait to get out of there. He said there was some madman running about and drinking hand sanitiser. And I said, ‘welcome to Govan’.”

McInnes expects his players to respond in the right manner from their second-half showing.

“I’ve no time for people moping about, I’ve no time for feeling sorry for ourselves,” he said.

“It was the manner of the last two or three goals, particularly. I felt it was just shoulder-slumped. It all became just a bit too much for the lads on the pitch.

“It’s something we’ve spoken about. In adversity, we’ve got to give a bit more. We’ve got to stand up to these types of things. Rangers have the quality to take full advantage of that.

“We need to make sure we’re a real competitive animal, get back to doing the basics well, being hard to beat, being solid, and hopefully find a winning performance from that.

“We move on quickly from the game at Ibrox. But I do trust the boys. We’ve worked together long enough now. I like the squad I’ve got, I like the people I’ve got in the dressing room.

“It’s important to us now that we just go and find a bit of form.”