Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes frustrated by missed chances despite late leveller

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes was frustrated by his side’s failure to win, despite seeing Bobby Wales’ late equaliser earn a 1-1 draw with Dundee at Rugby Park.

Killie fell behind to a superb Lyall Cameron strike, but substitute Wales made an instant impact as he fired into the top corner with 10 minutes remaining to set up a grandstand finish.

But Marley Watkins, Danny Armstrong and Wales all squandered late chances as the hosts had to settle for a point, although they did at least end their run of three straight losses.

McInnes said: “From looking at the stats and even just the feeling we got, it felt like it should’ve been a winning performance, but it wasn’t because of one moment and because we didn’t take the opportunities when they came along.

“Frustration is the feeling in general. It has to be said we were slow out of the blocks, for the first 10 or 15 minutes in particular.

“I thought Dundee played the game the way it should’ve been played. We looked a bit unsure of ourselves in that early period, but we came through that.

“The performance in the second half was exactly what we were looking for. We’ve had to do it the hard way after losing a poor goal.

“I thought we looked in a good way, but when we’re on top against teams like that we’ve got to make hay and get ourselves in front.”

The Killie boss was also critical of two refereeing decisions that angered the Rugby Park faithful in the closing stages.

Referee Ross Hardie first enraged the home fans by stopping the game for an injury with Kyle Vassell driving into the box, while the hosts appealed for a penalty in added time when Innes Cameron tangled with Dundee defender Billy Koumetio.

McInnes added: “Regarding the penalty shout – at the time I thought there was a lot of justification for it. I thought the ref was going to give the penalty when he motioned, but he didn’t and I didn’t think VAR would overturn it.

“Then there was no head knock for Gary Mackay-Steven or Simon Murray. They’ve hurt their backs. Gary landed uncomfortably, but if the referee deemed that serious enough to stop the game then he should have done it then.

“Simon Murray then hurts his back, has a wee look up and stays down. As play continues, Kyle Vassell is one-v-one driving into the box and then the referee decides to blow.

“It’s outrageous. If he was really concerned about either player it should have been stopped before he did. To wait until Kyle Vassell is facing their last defender was a huge error. I’m sure if he sees it again he would acknowledge that.”

Dundee boss Tony Docherty was content with a point away from home.

He said: “We started with the momentum that we carried from the Hibs game. I thought the performance levels were really good to start.

“We were in the ascendancy, but Kilmarnock are a good team and they came back into it.

“It was a decent game and a draw was probably a fair result.

“Jon McCracken made some big saves. I’ve said all along, I’ve got three fantastic goalkeepers in the building.

“I want there to be competition all the time and Jon made good saves today. I thought the back three defended extremely well.

“Kilmarnock asked a lot of questions defensively. It takes a lot of concentration and we did that well.

“I’m just slightly disappointed that when you go 1-0 up that you can’t see that out.

“And I think we should do better for the goal. We’ve not tracked a runner for the equaliser.

“But I have to be relatively happy with a point away from home at a really tough venue.”