Kilmarnock manager Stuart Kettlewell says club has lofty aspirations for new Premiership season

Kilmarnock manager Stuart Kettlewell says he and his squad have “lofty but achievable” ambitions for the upcoming league season and they aim to get off to the best possible start against Livingston on Saturday.

An unusual opening weekend schedule means the match at Rugby Park is the only 3pm kick-off on Saturday and sets the ball rolling for the Premiership season.

Kettlewell, who arrived as manager early in the summer to succeed Derek McInnes, has his full focus on winning his first league game in charge but has set targets for his squad to achieve over the next ten months.

He won’t reveal those ambitions publicly but says they are setting their sights high, and the manager says those aims are achievable.

“In league terms, I’m never going to sit here and shout my mouth off about that,” Kettlewell said. “It’s safe to say that we have our goals.

“It’s safe to say that we have lofty aspirations and where we want to be.

“You know, different people, different managers, different players, I see it across the country and in other country, sometimes we want to shout our mouth off about what we’re gonna be and what we’re gonna do.

“As long as my players and the staff and everybody at the football club understands what that looks like, what success is, what failure looks like, and that’s really all I’m concerned about.

“Sometimes those goals can shift as well. Sometimes it’s a scenario where you do that a little bit better and you think that you can push boundaries.

“It’s safe to say that the goals that we’ve set will be difficult to obtain, but we think they’re also achievable.”

While the long-term targets are being kept in-house, the desire for a winning start this weekend is clear and Kettlewell wants to build on a League Cup group stage where the new-look team took three wins and a draw to top their section and reach the second round.

“You always want to get off to a good start,” he said. “I said it before the group stages that I’ve always been fortunate in my managerial career to win the group because that can be challenging. I think we’ve seen that again this year that it can be a sticky competition because of the stage of the season.

“So I always wanted to do that but you always want to get off to a good start. You always want to try and post your first win as quickly as you possibly can.

“So I think the shortest of short-term targets is to try and get your first three points on the board, as difficult as that will be.”

The manager says his side will face a tough task against newly-promoted Livingston on Saturday but is happy with how the group has been during his first weeks in charge and that he has confidence they can improve and succeed as they get to know his methods.

“I think they’re responding very well,” he said. “They’re very receptive, which is all I ever asked for.

“But football’s football. I’ve said that a number of times I’ve got ideas and I’ve got ways that I believe I want a team to play and function.

“I think it’s about limiting excuses. That can come from from either myself, the players, the coaches and staff, and just trying to try to make sure that we’re a really competitive side.

“We know that we face a difficult task against a good Livingston side at the weekend and we’ll give them every respect as we always do. With any opponent we would always do the same.

“But for me it’s just constantly trying to evolve and just trying to become the best version of what we want to be.”