Red-faced McInnes has no case for defence

DEREK McINNES admitted Kilmarnock were their own worst enemies in a 5-0 rout from Celtic that left him feeling ‘embarrassed’. Goals from Kyogo Furuhashi, Jota, Moritz Jenz, Carl Starfelt and Giorgos Giakoumakis saw the champions run riot in the sunshine at Rugby Park.

McInnes gave credit to the quality of Ange Postecoglou’s squad but also felt his side should have put up much stronger resistance. It was a bruising conclusion to back-to-back games against the Old Firm — made worse by an injury to Jeriel Dorsett — with McInnes hoping Kilmarnock can now kick their campaign into gear against Ross County this Saturday.

‘What you can guarantee in football is that you have to defend your box, regardless of who you are playing,’ he said. ‘The ball is coming in there and you’ve got to be able to deal with it. That’s my concern. I know we’ll be better and we’re capable of getting results in this league, but there is that kind of feeling that our season starts now. It still shouldn’t be 5-0, even though we’re not ready to take on Celtic, that’s what I’m disappointed with.

‘I’m embarrassed by it, but we need to dust ourselves down and hopefully by the time we play the Old Firm next time around we’re more settled into the Premiership and better equipped to get a better result than we were today.’

Kilmarnock needed a solid start but were behind after seven minutes when Greg Taylor slipped a through ball for Daizen Maeda to set up Furuhashi. ‘It was the worst possible start,’ said McInnes (right). ‘We spoke before the match about not giving a good Celtic team any encouragement. We play our own part in the goal we lose. It’s far too simplistic. For all the talent Celtic have, I was disappointed with the level of goal we lost.

‘Two corner kicks, three goals in the six-yard box. I need to see the Jota goal again but my first thought is we should have saved it. ‘Other than the Giakoumakis overhead kick, there were no real goals defined by the difference in quality. It was more our responsibility and lack of willingness and resolve to deal with that situation.’

There was further bad news for Kilmarnock after Reading loanee Dorsett was injured during the first half. Asked how the defender was, McInnes said: ‘Not good, he heard a pop and I think it’s ligament damage of some sort. I think he’ll be out for a period of time.’