Neil McCann says ‘you get nothing with fear’ as Kilmarnock prepare for Dundee

Neil McCann has stressed that “you get nothing with fear” ahead of Kilmarnock’s crucial final pre-split William Hill Premiership game against Dundee at Rugby Park on Saturday.

Following the 3-0 defeat by Hibernian at Easter Road last weekend, Killie remain in the relegation play-off spot, three points behind St Mirren and Aberdeen and five behind the Taysiders, with Livingston 11 adrift at the bottom.

Boss McCann insists his side cannot be hamstrung by reticence in the final six games of the season.

He said: “You get nothing with fear. You get nothing with fear.

“You have to be brave and that has to come from the coaching staff delivering the messages to allow them to be brave.

“We can’t just send them out there with shackles on them and worry about the what ifs.

“There’s certain elements of the team that need to be a ‘what if’ type of guy for breakdowns and transition moments, counter-attacks and stuff like that.

“But my job since I came in here has been to encourage the team to go and be brave and play a style of football that’s going to give opportunities to score goals and then in turn hopefully win games.”

A third home win in a row for Killie would further bunch up the bottom of the table but McCann is focusing only on his side.

He said: “To be honest, I’m not looking about pulling people in.

“I’m more focused on where we want to be and that is climbing the table and three points can make a monster difference right now, the last game before the split.

“It’s a brilliant chance for us just to get back to winning ways.

“I’ve been involved in the split before and it doesn’t worry me.

“I’m not a type of manager or coach that gets sleepless nights on what’s ahead.

“I get sleepless nights because I’m wondering if I’ve done all my preparation and I’m giving the players enough information.

“And that will absolutely be the case come Saturday.

“They’ll have every bit of information on Dundee, where I see Dundee’s strengths and weaknesses and where I see ours and hopefully we come out on the right side of the result.”