The Lowdown
Our 2021/22 Premier Sports Cup campaign gets under way against Championship side Kilmarnock at Easter Road. It’s our second match in the space of three days following our 4-1 UEFA Europa Conference League loss against HNK Rijeka in Croatia on Thursday evening.
In the Premier Sports Cup last season, we made it to the semi-final before being beaten 3-0 by St Johnstone at Hampden Park. The Scottish League Cup is a competition we have enjoyed recent success in. We have made it to the semi-final or better in four of the past six seasons. We last reached the final in 2016 losing 2-1 to Ross County. Liam Fontaine got our goal in front of 38,296 fans.
The visit of Kilmarnock is a chance to keep our strong domestic start to the season going after winning our first two league games against Motherwell (3-2) and Ross County (3-0) to go top of the Scottish Premiership.
Team News
Jack Ross made two changes for our Europa Conference League loss in Croatia. Kevin Nisbet returned to the starting XI after recovering from a dead leg and Darren McGregor replaced captain Paul Hanlon, who didn’t travel due to a head injury.
Hanlon is unlikely to feature on Sunday due to concussion protocol with McGregor eligible to take his place again despite being sent off against Rijeka.
Scott Allan also didn’t fly to Croatia. The midfielder remains sidelined after coming off in our 3-0 win over Santa Coloma at Easter Road last month.
Christian Doidge will miss Kilmarnock, too. The Welsh forward aggravated an ankle injury during training at the Rijeka Stadium Rujevica and is awaiting results on a scan to determine the severity of the injury.
The Visitors
Kilmarnock are striving for an immediate return to the cinch Premiership following relegation last season.
Tommy Wright has been at the helm since February 2021 and has gotten Killie off to a promising start this campaign. An opening-day win over rivals Ayr United (2-0) – a first meeting between the pair in 28 years – was followed by a last-gasp victory over Queen of the South (1-0).
Killie have added a few new faces to their ranks, including former Hibee Fraser Murray. The 22-year-old midfielder came through our Academy and went on to make 29 appearances in all competitions, scoring four times.
Killie are a strong defensive side with captain Chris Stokes and Euan Murray off to an impressive start to the season. The visitors are also a threat from wide areas. Former Rangers and Birmingham City winger Chris Burke might be 37, but is still in fine form and one of Killie’s most creative threats.
Head To Head
We have won four straight matches against Kilmarnock beating them 2-0 in our last meeting in January 2021. An Alan Power own-goal and an Alex Gogic wonder-strike (his first goal for us) saw us claim maximum points.
Our last game against Kilmarnock in the Scottish League Cup was a 5-4 penalty-shootout win in September 2019 to reach the semi-finals However, the most famous meeting in the competition was our 5-1 victory to lift the 2007 Scottish League Cup. Captain Rob Jones, Abdessalam Benelloun (2) and Steven Fletcher (2) all scored at Hampden with victory followed by a night parade at Easter Road.
Unrestricted Fans!
Prior to this match, we were thrilled to announce the unrestricted return of supporters to Easter Road for matchdays. That means our capacity is no longer capped at 5,600.
The City of Edinburgh Council confirmed the welcome news that fans will no longer have to stay socially distanced in the stands allowing us to finally return to full capacity. We thank them for their cooperation and support having worked closely together to restore normality (and noise) to Easter Road.
For Kilmarnock, we will be using only the East and West stands allowing for 12,000 supporters, including 800 Killie fans.
The North and South stands will reopen soon after ongoing improvements and remedial works.
We can’t wait to welcome you back. There are still some important Covid rules in place with masks essential in internal areas unless exempt.
Matchday Sponsors
Welcome to our match ball sponsors for the game, JB Contracts, an Edinburgh based joinery & building services company and our Captain's Sponsor, Crandles & Co, offering bespoke financial planning solutions to individuals and families across Scotland.
Thanks to our matchday sponsors as ever for your support!
