SPFL: Kilmarnock manager Allan Johnston admits to blunder

Kilmarnock manager Allan Johnston admitted he had blundered in substituting Alexei Eremenko as 10-man Inverness came from 1-0 down to claim an unlikely 2-1 victory at Rugby Park.

Johnston came under fire from a large section of the home support when he replaced goalscorer Eremenko with Chris Johnston with 20 minutes left before Billy McKay netted his second goal to send 10-man Caley Thistle into third place in the standings.

"It was the last 20 minutes of the game and we were looking to freshen things up and get a wee bit more legs in the team," Johnston said.

"But, looking back, you always assess your decisions, and we probably needed that bit of experience and quality in the last 20 minutes so it probably was the wrong decision to take him off.

"It was as though we panicked and that's what you can't afford to do. We tried to force things and put ourselves under pressure. It hurts to get beat. Abuse is part and parcel of being a manager. I think everybody deals with it. That's life."

Caley boss John Hughes felt the red card for David Raven early in the second-half had galvanised his players.

"The whole game changed with the sending-off but it probably gave us the impetus to get us on the front foot," he said.

"We put a real effort in to get back into the game but to go and win it was something special but when you have a player like Billy McKay on the pitch, he is a natural goalscorer. He is back on form in terms of scoring goals."

McKay's brace made it four goals in three games for the striker, who is resisting attempts to extend his contract beyond the summer.

"Strikers are gold dust and we are desperate to keep him at the club," Hughes said.

"But Billy is an honest boy and if his future lay elsewhere and it was twice the size of Inverness, I would drive him there myself because of what he has done for me. 

"You cannot stand in anybody's way. But that doesn't mean we're not desperately trying to keep him. I'm just delighted, with all the speculation surrounding Billy, that he is still producing the goods."