Kilmarnock V Hamilton at Rugby Park : Match Preview

Kilmarnock V Hamilton - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.Mark O'Hara backs Kilmarnock to recover from League Cup shockDefender Mark O'Hara is looking for Kilmarnock to get over the numbing shock of their midweek League Cup exit when they take on Hamilton at Rugby Park on Saturday.The Ayrshire side were leading Hearts 2-1 in their home third-round tie on Wednesday night until the visitors scored in the 90th and 92nd minute to take them into the quarter-finals.It was 19-year-old O'Hara's first experience of such a cruel late turnaround and he revealed the Killie dressing room sat stunned afterwards.However, after two successive Ladbrokes Premiership wins before the Jambos' disappointment, O'Hara wants eighth-placed Killie to get back on track against Accies."We were in shock at what happened in the last couple of minutes," said the Scotland Under-21 defender."There's never been anything like that before for me. Everyone was in shock and numb at what had just happened."We were in charge for most of the game and probably should have seen it out."For 88 minutes we were quite comfortable and I couldn't see anything like that happening."It was obviously very disappointing but we have to take the positives from the game. We just need to remember that we played quite well and kick on from that."We were in the next day and the atmosphere was quite good."The performances and results have been encouraging in the last couple of games, it shows we are going in the right direction and playing some good stuff."The game against Hamilton is massive. If we win that we could be just outside the top six so that is a massive game."Kilmarnock are hoping goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald will be fit for the Ladbrokes Premiership game against Hamilton at Rugby Park on Saturday.The Ayrshire side brought in Mark Ridgers on loan from St Mirren on Tuesday after MacDonald injured his ankle and knee against St Johnstone last week but a scan showed the injuries were not as serious as first feared.Stuart Findlay is a doubt after sustaining an eye injury in the 3-2 League Cup defeat by Hearts on Wednesday night, while Rory McKenzie (hamstring) and Darryl Westlake (knock) will also be assessed and Kevin McHattie returns after being cup-tied against his former club.Hamilton striker Carlton Morris should return. The Norwich loan player missed the victory over Motherwell after taking a kick but has trained well this week.Darian MacKinnon is touch and go with a knock and Chris Turner is just short of match fitness after a knee problem but Michael Devlin (ankle) remains out.Gramoz Kurtaj fulfilled his dream of playing top-flight football when he signed for Hamilton, but he admits his summer move has exceeded his expectations.The 24-year-old has played in all nine matches this season and helped Accies into the top six of the Ladbrokes Premiership ahead of Saturday's clash at Kilmarnock.And Kurtaj has been pleasantly surprised by the style of football his team play.Kurtaj, who began his career in Germany before moving to Slovakia, said: "It's my first year as a professional player and here you can really see you have arrived in a top league. The stadiums, the pitches are good."I watch the top leagues in other countries on television and now I am here. You play against international players, our goalkeeper is playing for Northern Ireland (Michael McGovern), it's a good platform and it's definitely different to what I am used to."I can be happy because I'm playing every week. I came here almost as a nobody and have to work hard. I'm happy I can be part of this team because we have such good characters. We play like a team and I really like to be here."Every football player feels comfortable and enjoys life when results are good."Everybody said we would get relegated and we are proving every match that we are not a team that will get relegated because every game we are focused and play our style."We don't have a reason to look at the bottom, we feel comfortable in our position and we are looking to keep it going. I don't feel any pressure because we have such good characters in our team."

Source: PAR