Stuart Kettlewell happy with win after first-half frustration against Brora

Stuart Kettlewell experienced some early frustration in his first game as Kilmarnock boss before overcoming his former club Brora Rangers in a 2-0 Premier Sports Cup group win.

On the opening day of the season Killie broke the deadlock against the Highland League side in the 39th minute through 18-year-old debutant Ben Brannan and Djenairo Daniels, the Dutch striker also making his debut, added a second in the 80th minute for three points.

Kettlewell, formerly player/assistant manager of Brora, told the Rugby Park club’s official X account: “I think first and foremost we wanted to come and get a clean sheet and win the game.

“There was a lot of frustration in the first half and feeling that we could execute things far, far better than what we did.

“That feeling-out process, when you’re playing against the team that is dropping in and killing those spaces in their half, we just have to be a wee bit more slick there.

“We have to trust ourselves to be able to open them up.

“Sometimes I just felt we were just a little bit hesitant in what we were doing.

“Start of the second half, we find ourselves in a position where we created a number of chances and with these types of games, with all due respect, that’s the ones that you want to convert and then you probably start to enjoy the rest of the game.

“But that said, I’m still seeing elements that I like.

“I think that out of the games that we’ve had to this point, it’s probably the one that I would be asking much more of the group but as you see round the country, it is not that easy.”