You can’t get swallowed by pressure, says Kilmarnock defender Lewis Mayo

Lewis Mayo insists Kilmarnock cannot become engulfed by the strain of survival as they look to secure their Premiership status.

With four fixtures remaining, Derek McInnes’ side are in ninth place, one point ahead of Dundee and nine ahead of bottom side St Johnstone, who they play at McDiarmid Park on Saturday.

Killie go into the game on the back of a morale-boosting 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Ross County last weekend but Mayo believes there is still much to do to ensure they are playing top-flight football next season.

The 25-year-old centre-back, who joined Kilmarnock from Rangers in July 2023 after a loan spell at the Ayrshire club, said: “You can’t get swallowed by pressure.

“There’s no doubt that the pressure is there, but it’s not a bad thing.

“It means there’s something worth playing for.

“And as I say, take one game at a time and just go ‘can we keep pushing ourselves further and further and can we be the best out of the teams around us?’

“Everyone has a real sense of belief after a result like that.

“We’ve had a few big results during my time here but I’d say last week was probably the most important week in terms of results and handling that pressure.

“So for the boys that have experienced that, that will help us as well.

“One of the most important things with these games is staying positive and calm as well.

“I thought last week that by no means were we at our best but we were calm.

“It was a professional performance and we did what we needed to do to win the game.

“We also need to look at it and understand where St Johnstone are coming from.

“Time is running out for them and going to their ground, we’ve got to understand that they’re going to give it everything. So we need to be ready for that as well.

“They’re going to throw everything they’ve got at us. They might try and change a wee bit from what they do, but the last time we played them they didn’t change much about the set-up and their approach.

“I think that played into our hands that day (3-1 win), but as I say, they could throw anything at us.”

While the post-split fixtures by definition see teams taking valuable points from each other, Mayo stressed the importance of keeping Killie’s future in their own hands.

He said: “You don’t want to rely on other results all the time.

“In our heads, it’s just a case of doing it as fast as we can and keeping that belief that we can do it.

“It’s in our hands.

“After a good result at the weekend, we are looking at it and saying, ‘can we finish this off ourselves without relying on anyone else?’ because sometimes when you are relying on people – they don’t come through for you.”