Kilmarnock managed just victories on the road in the Premiership last season. Their horror record on the road was very nearly their undoing as they managed to stave off the threat of relegation against Ross County and Dundee United.
So far this campaign has been more of the same. Two points have been picked up on Killie’s travels to Tynecastle and Dens Park. If it wasn’t for a lapse in concentration in the final minute in Dundee, Derek McInnes’ side would’ve had the monkey off their backs nice and early.
St Johnstone came flying out of the traps on Wednesday night and gave the Ayrshire side a mountain to climb at McDiarmid Park. Two goals inside the opening seven minutes saw the Perth outfit claim their first league win of the season.
It was a golden chance for three wins on the trot missed by Killie. It’s a run of results like that which is currently halting any further progress under McInnes. The last time he managed to guide the team to more than two wins on the spin was in March 2022. And it’s that consistency Joe Wright insists he and his teammates are determined to achieve.
“It was just the polar opposite of what we spoke about before the game,” the 28-year-old said of the 2-1 loss to Saints. “We wanted to come out of the traps aggressively and on the front foot like we had been in the previous two games. It was just a ridiculous start from ourselves and that is something that cost us.
“After that, they sat in a bit more. We tried to get in their box as much as we could and to get corners, set pieces and final third entries. We just weren’t good enough.
“I don’t think our poor away form is down to anything in particular. You take each game as it comes. I don’t think we are getting caught up in our away form or anything like that. We are a much better side than last season. We had that poor record last season but I don’t think that is going to be the same this season.
“I feel we are a confident bunch. We have good quality and depth in the squad and I just think Wednesday’s game was one of them where we have been caught napping at the start and we have been punished. It is something we need to learn from.”
Asked what the manager had to say about the dismal start, Wright added: “He was disappointed because he doesn’t want us to be taking two steps forward and then a step back.
"We have come into this fixture wanting to go on and run and wanting to put three wins back-to-back, which was something we never did last season. It is disappointing for ourselves but we have another game coming up and we can try and eradicate that.”
