Lee Clark admits Kilmarnock need to start matches better

Kilmarnock boss Lee Clark insists there will be no repeat of the sloppy first-half showing that left his side chasing shadows in the 1-1 draw against Dundee.

The Dark Blues were impressive but had only Rory Loy's 18th-minute header to show for their efforts as the teams went down the Dens Park tunnel at half-time.

And they paid the price for missing a series of chances when Conrad Balatoni nodded home Killie's equaliser 10 minutes into the second period.

Clark was pleased to see his team knuckle down after the interval as they claimed a point but knows they will not get away with producing the flat football they showed in the first 45 minutes when they take on Hibernian or Falkirk in their upcoming play-off final.

But with their top-flight status on the line the Englishman is adamant his side have learned their lesson.

Clark said: We were very, very disappointed in our performance in that first half. It was very lethargic, very flat and nothing like what we had based some of our previous performances on.

Those involved a lot of energy and being solid, being strong and being a threat ourselves. None of those things were shown in the first 45.

But we had a good conversation at half-time and we came out much, much better. We got the goal and had other opportunities to score.

However, when the players can produce what they did in the second half, you have to put that first-half display down to a mental situation because it was such a huge difference.

We are not a group who can switch off like that. Our success has come off the back of real hard work and organisation.

But we won't start like that again. We've had a good chat after the game and it will not be repeated.''

The draw drops Dundee down a place to eighth and they will have to beat Inverness, the side who leapfrogged them, on Saturday if they are to finish in seventh.

Paul Hartley - who saw top-scorer Kane Hemmings limp off with a hamstring strain - said: We had enough chances to win the game by four or five goals, especially in the first half when the game should have been out of sight.

The first half was excellent. Our combination play, our movement, but everything in the second half wasn't quite the same.

We lost a really bad goal. We didn't defend the ball in the box. You've got to pick people up.

But we certainly had enough chances to win it.

We've got to dust ourselves down and get prepared for Saturday with whatever squad we do have.''