Apr 17th 2010, Accies Vs Killie, SPL

It is the kind of record that gets a team relegated; the kind that proves inexcusable in the final reckoning; the kind that almost defies belief.

Just how can a team score only four times in 17 away matches?

To describe their abject lack of attacking prowess away from Rugby Park as a frailty would be generous to Jimmy Calderwood and his Kilmarnock players but the focus at the weekend fell on the defensive collapse that robbed the visitors of a valuable point in their quest for Clydesdale Bank Premier League survival. The two, though, are not entirely distinct.

If a team are as wretched in front of goal as Kilmarnock, the burden of responsibility on defenders is heightened by the knowledge that even one concession is likely to cause defeat. Nervousness sets in, particularly on afternoons like Saturday when the team has enjoyed the ascendancy without turning such dominance into goals, leading inevitably to mistakes – exemplified by the poorly defended corner that gave Hamilton Academical the opener.

“If we go a goal down we seem to go to pieces,” admitted goalkeeper Cameron Bell, whose inability to grasp the set-piece delivery was the only flaw in an otherwise accomplished performance. “There shouldn’t be that feeling but it seems to be that way at the moment. The manager is asking questions and we just don’t have the answers.”

That, though, is not the only conundrum Calderwood can’t comprehend. The attacking deficiencies are a source of bemusement – the problem stemming on Saturday from a lack of creativity rather than profligacy – but more of a concern is the psychological inadequacies among a squad who have found themselves engaged in an unseemly scrap for survival for several seasons now.

Having canvassed the opinions of his senior players last week, the manager was troubled by what he appears to have identified as a wider malaise around the club; a consequence of the continually budget cuts and subsequent poverty of ambition. For all Bell eloquently talked of characters and an eagerness to be able to face the supporters without shame, the Kilmarnock camp seems a doleful place right now, a feeling exacerbated by the grim reality of what might happen should the club slip out of the top flight.

“Everybody knows our jobs are on the line – and that’s the staff as well as the players – so we know how massive it is,” said the goalkeeper. “There’s a lot of players, including myself, out of contract in the summer but we need to keep this club in this league or who knows what might happen.”

Kilmarnock face an uncertain future that's for sure!