Neil McCann knows there is “a lot of hard work” standing between his Kilmarnock side and Scottish Premiership survival, but the former Rangers and Hearts winger has an abundance of belief ahead of the split. 

Speaking at full-time after their entertaining 2-2 against Dundee on Saturday, McCann was pleased with his side’s “bravery” but acknowledged frustrations over a late equaliser.

“I’m standing here probably a bit disappointed we’ve not got three points from the game. You’re looking at a game that we probably deserve three points, I feel certainly, that we could’ve got nothing. In hindsight, maybe tomorrow it might look like a good point.

“We just didn’t take a couple of chances that came our way but I can’t have any complaints in how we approached the game. I thought the boys were brilliant. They were brave, loads of courage, worked their socks off.”

First-half goals from Jordan Hugill and Michael Schjonning-Larsen gave Killie a 2-1 first-half advantage. But Scott Wright’s equaliser and Jordan Westley’s penalty miss almost stole all three points for Dundee.

Kelle Roos produced an outstanding low save to deny Westley. But a delayed VAR decision in deciding the penalty was a source of frustration for McCann, who described the incident as “chaos”.

“It’s a ridiculous situation when the referee’s got to come over and he’s got to judge whether that’s offside or not. I think it was offside. I don’t think it’s a penalty either. It’s so soft. There’s a wee bit of contact but this is a contact sport, he’s clearly not going to get on the ball. Kelle makes a good save.

“We were told that they couldn’t calibrate the machine, and they couldn’t get the lines in, and then they’ve had to support the on-field decision.”

The point, along with St Mirren’s defeat at Celtic Park, edges Killie just two points behind their nearest rivals, who sit 10th. With an upturn in home form, McCann’s men look reenergised and will feel confident of beating the drop.

Kilmarnock’s Post Split Fixtures

Aberdeen v Kilmarnock- April 25th 3 pm

Kilmarnock v Dundee United – May 2nd 3 pm

St Mirren v Kilmarnock – May 9th 3 pm

Kilmarnock v Dundee – May 12th 7:45 pm

Livingston v Kilmarnock – May 17th 2 pm