Dundee defeat puts the spotlight on a defence which is struggling
Breaking down the defeat at Dens as we ask why the solidity of last season has deserted Killie
At around 4pm on Sunday it looked as though we’d be analysing a third Killie win in four matches, with Derek McInnes’ side set to go within a point of fourth place.
Instead a collapse from 2-0 down saw them head back to Ayrshire with nothing, a complete reversal of the 3-2 win at Dens Park a month ago.
The failure to keep clean sheets has been a persistent concern this season.
Last term you’d have been pretty confident that a Killie side with a 2-0 lead, even away from home, would see out the match.
That’s backed up by the numbers. In 38 matches last season, Kilmarnock opened the scoring on 20 occasions and won 12 of those matches, losing just three - two of which came against Rangers.
McInnes’ men kept 14 league clean sheets last season and conceded 44 goals in 38 matches, which included a 5-0 loss to Celtic after fourth place was already secure.
So far this season they’ve kept only one clean sheet - the 1-0 win over Rangers - and conceded 22 in 11 games, half of last season’s total already and an average of two per game.
As the manager himself has said, Killie can’t put themselves in a position where it takes three goals to win a match.
There are some mitigating circumstances, including the now familiar red card issue, as well as the fact McInnes hasn’t been able to establish a consistent backline.
Robby McCrorie and Kieran O’Hara have both had spells as first choice goalkeeper, while injuries and suspensions have meant a chopping and changing of those in front of them.
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As McInnes himself noted, Stuart Findlay’s recent struggles with injury have coincided with conceding goals - the big defender missed the 3-2 win over Dundee, came off at half-time with Killie 1-0 up at Ross County, played 90 minutes in the 1-0 win over Rangers, didn’t feature against Hearts and went off at 1-0 on Sunday.