Kilmarnock gaffer Derek McInnes insists his side must make the most of home comforts if they want to seal a top six berth.
And that starts on Wednesday when they host managerless Rangers at Rugby Park (8pm kick-off).
Successive home wins had seen them jump back into the top half of the table but an injury-time defeat to Aberdeen at the weekend, coupled with other results going against them, saw Killie slip down to ninth place in the Premiership table.
With six just games to go before the split, McInnes reckons three wins could be enough and is targeting positive results in Ayrshire.
McInnes said: “We’ll not give up on the top six. I said before the game (against Aberdeen) I thought four wins from seven games would cement it and three wins would give us a right good chance. We’ve three home games out of the next five which we hope to make the most of.”
Kyle Magennis should be available for selection agains the Gers after missing the weekend’s clash, while McInnes is hoping skipper Kyle Vassell will make his return sooner rather than later.
And the boss believes having a full compliment of players can also give them the boost needed to propel them up the table.
After entertaining Rangers on Wednesday, it’s a long trip north to face Ross County in Dingwall on Saturday afternoon.
McInnes said: “Kyle Magennis will be OK for Wednesday. We got him scanned last week and there was no damage to his knee, just a bit of swelling in the joint.
“We thought he would make training on Friday but there was still a bit of swelling and we opted not to put him through the travelling with the Rangers game coming up.
“We’re hoping to have Kyle Vassell back in training this week, so we’re getting a wee bit healthier and I think that shows in the performances and hopefully shows in the performances between now and the end of the season.”
While the gaffer reckons it’s the home form where his side need to pick up the points, vice-captain Brad Lyons confessed they’ve no chance of reaching the top six if they don’t start producing the goods away from home.
Killie have won just twice away from Rugby Park in the league this term, and picked up nine points in total. Both those figures are the lowest in the league.
The Northern Irishman said: “We usually look after ourselves at home, but to get top six we need to start picking up points and wins away from home.
“We show quality and especially at Rugby Park and hopefully we can use that to our advantage on Wednesday night. Rangers will be wanting to do the same as us and bounce back straight away, but hopefully we can stop them.”
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