‘The message to the players is to be squeaky clean’ – McInnes

Derek McInnes is trying to solve his side’s discipline problems by rooting out unnecessary fouls and complaints during training.

Liam Donnelly’s sending off in the 2-1 defeat to Ross County last weekend marked the fifth time this season that Killie have played a match with 10 men.

Captain Kyle Vassell revealed that the Rugby Park players will be fined for committing “silly fouls” during training and manager McInnes elaborated on the issue, while also questioning the consistency of decisions.

He said: “We’ve been doing it for a while, for things like towing.

“Sometimes players commit fouls in training matches and I want us to get rid of that, so we fine players for things like that, withdrawing players and stopping promising attacks.

“Also questioning and complaining about questionable decisions by the referees, that’s a million because I’m usually the referee.

“We have introduced that and if someone irritates me too much, he will be fined.

“So we’re just trying to train the players to be more disciplined and more accepting of decisions, good or bad.

“Sometimes I make decisions that are clearly wrong, just to test them, and I want us to try to be a little more focused on everything on the pitch.

“The message to the players is to be squeaky clean, to be really confident in our work.”

Despite saying he wants his side to ‘take ownership’ of their poor disciplinary record, McInnes has also called for more consistency in the decision-making process of match officials.

He said: ‘We shouldn’t give people any chance of getting a red card, but there has to be consistency, and there isn’t.

“I don’t care what anyone says, it’s not there right away.”