Kilmarnock boss wary of 'difficult' Kelty Hearts challenge ahead of Premier Sports Cup clash

Daily Record

a day ago

Stuart Kettlewell heaped praise on the Fife club and boss Tam O'Ware as the Killie boss eyes up a third successive win
Kilmarnock boss Stuart Kettlewell insists tonight's visit to League One outfit Kelty Hearts will be a 'difficult' task and says he has plenty of praise for the Fife club and gaffer Tam O'Ware.
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Killie will be looking to take a big step towards sealing their place in the knockout stages of the Premier Sports Cup by making it three wins from three when they travel to New Central Park as he continues towards preparing for the start of the Premiership campaign.
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He said: 'They've obviously brought in quite a lot of fresh blood and some younger players with good energy to the team, so it'll be a difficult task for us on Tuesday.
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'We just want that work ethic, that buy-in from players, that's the simple parts of it.
'Trying to keep as many players fit as you possibly can, try and get through all your markers, as many minutes into players as you possibly can, try and get them battle-hardened and get them ready for the rigours of a season.
'There's a lot of aspects that we look at behind the scene that you still try to chip away at to make sure that you get it to kind of the way you're working.
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'You're always wanting to try and get to that best practise throughout the course of the week, not just on the pitch. I think we've been making small steps and making decent ground in that sense, but as always, everything's a work in progress.
'We're trying to strive for perfection, I think that's why we're all in it.'
Kettlewell will be lining up against one of the youngest managers in the SPFL in O'Ware - something the Killie boss can sympathise with from his earlier days in the hotseat at Ross County.
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He said: 'I grew a beard, trying to make myself look a wee bit older but I've still got it to this day.
'Silly little things like that, but you always believe in what you do, you always believe in how you handle yourself.
'You need to not have this ego because I'm nowhere near the finished article with eight or so years of experience and a lot of games under my belt.
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'We've all got ideas, we've all got a way that we think we want to go about the job, but you learn so much from different scenarios.
'I briefly spoke to Tam before the game and he'd said that there's not enough hours in the day in the part-time job.
'I think he's got a point, I really do. I've always said that being a manager in part-time football, the role's still the same, you've still got to get through the same markers, you've still got to prepare your team.
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'I always tip my cap because I think it's a hard job at senior level and at full-time with the amount of hours that I and my staff put into it. But I think when you twist that into part-time football, you're looking for the same success, you're looking for the same achievements, but you're trying to do it with a lot less hours.
'That'll be a great experience for Tam, I've no doubt about it.'