McCann confident Kilmarnock can climb out of relegation zone after split

Neil McCann is confident that Kilmarnock can draw away from the William Hill Premiership drop zone after the split.

Killie remain in the relegation play-off berth but edged to within two points of St Mirren thanks to a dramatic 2-2 home draw with Dundee on Saturday.

McCann felt his team merited more than a point, even though they relied on Kelle Roos saving a stoppage-time penalty after an eight-minute VAR delay.

The ex-Dundee boss has steered the Ayrshire side to four wins and a draw from their last six Rugby Park contests, losing only to Celtic in injury-time.

Killie kick off their post-split schedule with a trip to Aberdeen a week on Saturday before hosting Dundee United.

McCann said: "It's five games we're going into after the break, so there's a lot of hard work ahead of us. But if they show how they played for most of the match – and the bravery they tried to play with – then I'm confident.

"The players are really disappointed. But it's not disappointment in the performance. We should have won; we were the better side. We've improved massively and played some brilliant football.

"Dundee didn't have to work hard for their second goal. It's a soft one conceded by our standards. But they will recover, have a couple of days off and there's no question they'll be positive coming back in."