Paul Sheerin hoping international break will have helped Kilmarnock refocus

Kilmarnock have used the international break for a re-set following their European exertions, according to assistant manager Paul Sheerin.

After finishing fourth in the William Hill Premiership last season, the Rugby Park club had a busy start to this campaign with a Europa League qualifying defeat against Cercle Brugge followed by UEFA Conference League qualifiers against Tromso and then Copenhagen, where they fell just short of making it to the group stages.

Ahead of the trip to St Mirren on Saturday, Derek McInnes’ side sit bottom of the Premiership with one point from four league fixtures, and with just one win in 11 games in all competitions, but Sheerin hopes two weeks of regular training will bear fruit.

He said: “It’s been tough going. Obviously, results have reflected that, unfortunately.

“So now that the European adventure is out the way, we focus again on league duty, and we knuckle down and then hopefully start picking up points as soon as possible.

“We have to take that (European games) into consideration and probably lack experience throughout the squad in terms of that European exposure, but at no stage will we use that as an excuse.

“It’s just not quite went our way in terms of performance levels, and we’re constantly looking to improve on that, but you’re spot on. This international break has definitely given us a chance to get ourselves going again and train properly.

“Obviously, that is taken out the equation when you’re travelling and playing two games a week – you’re not getting exposed to as much training as you’d like.

“So we’ve managed to get a good bit of training under our belt, and hopefully a bit more structure in our working week and that will help us going forward.

“Unfortunately, we’re out of the League Cup, so that allows us, obviously, again, more time to focus on league duty and try and get ourselves climbing up the table again.”

Sheerin, however, stressed that European football every season remains a goal for the club.

“That’s the plan,” he said. “We certainly hope so. I think the exposure for all of us as a group has been a brilliant experience for us.

“Obviously you want to go as far as you can and get to that group stage.

“We unfortunately fell short on that, but it definitely whetted the appetite, and the players will sense that as well.

“I think teams will maybe bob up and down a bit and have a good season and then fall away and come again.

“And we certainly don’t want to fall in that bracket. We want to be in the mix of the top six again. And if we can do that, then hopefully that will have us on the verge of European football again.”