Kilmarnock set sights on return to Hampden Park – Derek McInnes

Posted Sunday, January 21, 2024 by PA

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes admitted his side have their sights set on a return to Hampden Park after they got their Scottish Cup campaign underway with a deserved 2-0 victory over Dundee.

Killie flew out of the traps in their first game for three weeks, with Kyle Vassell prodding home the opener inside 20 seconds and Marley Watkins adding a second with a header two minutes later.

The hosts reached the semi-finals of the League Cup last season, before falling at the quarter-final stage in the Scottish Cup last term and the League Cup this time around.

McInnes – whose side have beaten both Celtic and Rangers already this campaign – insisted his team had the confidence to reach the latter stages once again.

He said: “It was a brilliant start. When the draw was made it was such a tough cup tie for both teams. You see other games are a bit more simplistic on paper and you’re always mindful coming back after a break.

“As daft as it sounds, although we got off to such a strong start, I thought we looked a bit rusty. We were maybe not quite game ready but we scored two very good goals and we got ourselves in front.

“The intention is to try and get to Hampden of course. That’s the intention, that’s the hope. The one thing about today’s game against a tough opponent is it was a home tie. You are obviously looking for that again.

“Last season we lost to Celtic in a semi-final but never managed to beat the Old Firm. This season we’ve beaten all the best teams in Scotland and we’ve shown on our day we have a performance in us that can beat anyone.

“It’s important we have the confidence to deal with cup ties wherever it takes you, whether it’s at a challenging place or if you are favourites at home. It’s important to have the motivation, the intention and the confidence to try and go all the way.”

Dundee manager Tony Docherty, meanwhile, bemoaned his side’s slow start as they failed to recover from the two early blows.

The Dens Park boss also took exception to Luke McCowan’s disallowed goal which would have halved the deficit inside the opening 10 minutes.

He said: “You can’t expect to come to a place like this and give away two goals within two minutes but I have to give huge credit to the players for doing what they did after that.

“We had a perfectly-good goal chalked off for offside. I don’t know why. The referee said Dara Costelloe was offside but he was nowhere near the ball when it went in.

“The players put in a real honest endeavour to get back into the game and I thought that was a really pivotal point to get to 2-1.

“It was a mountain to climb but I have to give credit to the players for giving the effort that they did.”