THE Killie players’ punishment for their abysmal performance at Inverness last week was to watch a horror video on Sunday.
The squad were shown a rerun of the 3-0 drubbing at the Caledonian Stadium some 24 hours earlier.
They were ordered in by a blazing Jim Jefferies and told in no uncertain terms that the Highland mauling wasn’t acceptable.
“It just wasn’t good enough,” said the manager, “so they were forced to watch the game as a punishment. I’m not having them thinking that the season is all over while we still have games to play.
“It was by far our poorest performance of the season, and it was all the more disappointing considering that we’d been on a bit of a decent run recently.
“I know we were missing a few players because they went through operations last week, but this was an opportunity for others to come in and show what they could do.
“Maybe some players were in the comfort zone with only a handful of games left, but performances like that are totally unacceptable. Some of them did themselves no favours at all.
“If they don’t produce between now and the end of the season then some of them might be moving on. It’s up to them.”
Ideally, the manager would like to be in a position to make wholesale changes, but the absence of Willie Gibson, Frazer Wright, Craig Bryson and Alan Morgan limits his options.
And injuries to Mehdi Taouil, Allan Johnston and Martyn Corrigan further restrict the number of changes that Jefferies can make.
Taouil, who had to call off from the Inverness match last Friday with a thigh strain, has a slight chance of recovering, but the odds are stacked against the talented Moroccan being available.
Defenders Simon Ford and Grant Murray, who were on the bench against Caley, along with youngster Paul McInnes, could feature at some stage against Saturday’s visitors, Gretna.
The beleaguered Borders club, who had a creditable draw against Falkirk last weekend, showed the kind of spirit in that game that Jefferies is demanding from his players.
And it’s worth noting that of the 18 points Gretna have chalked up this season, four of them have been against Kilmarnock.
“This is our fourth last game in this season’s campaign,” said Jefferies, “and it’s an ideal opportunity for the players to restore their pride and put on a bit of a show in front of our own fans.
“The games we have left are not big games, but they are important for some of the players to impress.”
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