Dundee travel to Ayshire to take on Kilmarnock in Neil McCann’s second Ladbrokes Premiership match in charge and here we round up everything you need to know ahead of the match.
Match Info
FIXTURE: Kilmarnock v Dundee
COMPETITION: Ladbrokes Premiership
DATE: Saturday 6th May 2017
KICK-OFF: 3.00pm
VENUE: Rugby Park
Opposition Info
FORMED: 1869
STADIUM: Rugby Park
CAPACITY: 17,889
PITCH SIZE: 100m x 64m
MANAGER: Lee McCulloch
CHAIRMAN: Michael Johnston
NICKNAME: Killie
MASCOTS: Nutz the Squirrel
CLUB COLOURS: Blue and White
SHIRT SPONSOR: QTS
HONOURS: Scottish League Division One (1st tier) champions: 1964/65
Scottish League Division Two (2nd tier) champions: 1897/98, 1898/99
Scottish Cup winners: 1920, 1929, 1997
Scottish League Cup winners: 2011/12
Scottish Qualifying Cup winners: 1896/97
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-finalists: 1966/67
RECORD WIN: 13-2 v Saltcoats Victoria, Scottish Qualifying Cup, 12/9/1896
CLUB WEBSITE: www.kilmarnockfc.co.uk
Getting to the Ground
The full address of Rugby Park for Sat-Nav is Kilmarnock Football Club, Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, KA1 2DP
By Car / Coach:
Use KA1 1UR as the postcode if you are travelling to Rugby Park, this will take you to Dundonald Place and the south entrance to Rugby Park.
Please note that there is restricted access on match days. There is also no access to Rugby Park by way of Rugby Road (KA1 2DP) on match days.
By Rail:
Rugby Park is less than 1 mile from Kilmarnock train station. Travelling from Dundee, you need to get a train to Glasgow Queen Street, change and walk down to Glasgow Central and get train to Kilmarnarnock from there.
Match Officials
Referee: Craig Thomson
Assistant Referees: David McGeachie and Andrew McWilliam
Fourth Official: Scott Millar
Forty-Four year old Craig Thomson originates from Paisley and has been on the SFA list since 1988, first officiating in the Scottish top flight in 2002.
Saturday’s match at Rugby Park will be Thomson’s third Dundee match this season, having officiated both Dundee v Rangers games at Dens and it will be his fourth time he has taken charge of a Kilmarnock match.
Head to Head v Kilmarnock
LEAGUE: Won 67, Drawn 50, Lost 64
SCOTTISH CUP: Won 3, Drawn 2, Lost 4
LEAGUE CUP: Won 5, Drawn 7, Lost 4
CHALLENGE CUP: Won 1, Drawn 0, Lost 0
ANGLO-SCOTTISH CUP: Won 0, Drawn 2, Lost 0
TOTALS: Won 76, Drawn 61, Lost 72
Last Five Dundee v Kilmarnock Games
11/2/2017 | Home | Home | Premiership | Drew 1-1 | 4,708 | Holt
3/12/2016 | Away | Premiership | Lost 2-0 | 3,615
10/9/2016 | Home | Premiership | Drew 1-1 | 5,111 | El Bahktaoui
11/5/2016 | Home | Premiership | Drew 1-1 | 4,335 | Loy
20/2/2016 | Away | Premiership | Drew 0-0 | 3,688
Last Meeting
Dundee had to settle for a point in a 1-1 draw at home to Kilmarnock last February. Veteran striker Kris Boyd gave Killie an early lead only for the Dark Blues to draw level with a Kevin Holt goal midway through the first half. Both side tried hard to win in miserably cold conditions, but neither team could find a winner in an open second half.
Dundee: Bain, Gomis (Wighton 72), Gadzhalov, O’Dea (c), Kerr, Hateley (Klok 66), O’Hara, McGowan, Holt, Ojamaa (El Bakhtaoui 85), Haber
Unused subs: Ferrie (gk), Vincent, Williams, Ross.
Goal: Holt (26)
Booked: McGowan (foul on Jones), Gadzhalov (blocking goalkeeper’s clearance), Holt (foul on 85).
Kilmarnock: Woodman, Hendrie (Addison 31), Wilson, Ajer, Taylor, McKenzie, Dicker, Longstaff, Jones (Roberts 87), Kris Boyd (c) (Tyson 87), Sammon
Unused subs: MacDonald (gk), Scott Boyd, Umerah, Martin Smith.
Goal: Boyd (8)
Booked: Longstaff (foul on O’Hara), Sammon (foul on Gomis), Tyson (foul on Haber).
Attendance: 4,708.
Referee: Alan Muir. Assistants: Gavin Harris, Mark McLean. Fourth official: Craig Charleston.
Kilmarnock’s Season So Far
Kilmarnock’s season started with a disappointing Betfred Cup campaign where they failed to qualify from their section after losing to Jim Duffy’s Morton and drawing with Albion Rovers.
Manager Lee Clark had rebuilt the side in the summer, bringing in eleven new players and it took a while for the new team to gel with only one win in August and September.
Although they drew with Rangers in August, Killie were mauled 6-1 by Celtic in September but have shown occasional glimpses of their potential. The team displayed its capabilities in a 2-0 defeat of Hearts and a win in Perth, while the fans had been wowed by Coulibaly’s breathtaking goals, including a superb scissors kick in the 1-1 draw at Dens in August.
However, top scorer Couilbaly was sold in the January transfer window to Egyptian side Al Ahly for a fee in the region of £800,000 and so the onus will be on the likes of Kris Boyd and Nathan Tyson to get the goals. They will be helped by Connor Samson who re-joins Kilmarnock on loan from Hearts, one of nine players to come in, in January.
Injuries to key personnel hampered Lee Clark’s progress before he left. The December 4-0 defeat at Tynecastle was case in point when Clark fielded a patched-up side but the recruitment strategy could be described as scattergun at best with few of the plethora of signings have had a positive effect.
Four days after the 1-1 draw with Dundee at Dens in February Clark left Rugby Park to take over as manager of League One Burnley. Clark’s assistant Lee McCulloch stepped up from number to take charge and in his first game was unlucky to take nothing in a 2-1 defeat to Aberdeeen.
However victories over St Johnstone and Ross County and draws with Partick, Inverness, Rangers and Hearts kept Killie away from the relegation spots and they went into the split in seventh.
In the first post split game Killie earned a crucial 2-0 victory at Hamilton to keep them six points ahead of the play off spot and will go into the Dundee game in high spirits. They are six games undefeated with Dundee and a result for either side will go a long way to securing their Premiership survival.
Top Scorers
DUNDEE: Haber 8; Stewart 6; O’Hara 5; McGowan, O’Dea, Loy 4
KILMARNOCK: Coulibaly 11; Boyd 8; McKenzie 5; Sammon 4
Ticketing Information
This match is pay at the gate and Dundee fans will be housed in the Chadwick Stand.
The prices for Rugby Park are as follws:
Adults £20
Concessions (Over 65, Under 21 and Students) £15
Under 16s £5
How To Watch
The full ninety minutes of the match will be available to subscribers of DEETV on Saturday evening while a shorter highlights package will be available to view on Sunday alongside exclusive post match interviews with the manager and players.
The pre-match press conference is also available to view on DEETV from Thursday.
You can sign up for DEETV for just £5 a month on the official website where you will have access to Highlights, Interviews and all the Dundee FC goals at the click of the button.
If you are out with the UK you will also be able to take advantage of our Live Streaming package for every home game.
