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Neil McCann remains confident Kilmarnock will turn their early-season fortunes around as his new-look side continues to find its rhythm. Killie welcome St Mirren to Rugby Park tonight, searching for their first Premiership points of the campaign following Saturday’s dismal 4-0 defeat to Dundee United. McCann accepts the frustration surrounding the club’s league start but remains calm about the bigger picture, insisting he retains full belief in the approach which proved successful last season. The Killie boss also discussed the challenge of establishing continuity across the backline, with Cathal McCarthy and Jonathan Meier among those still settling into life at Rugby Park. The former earned praise from the manager following his debut at the weekend, while McCann also provided an update on Robbie Deas after the defender was forced off during the first half. And with attention now firmly on St Mirren, the Killie boss believes one victory can change the feeling around a team as he looks for his side to produce the performance required to get their league campaign well and truly up and running. Here is every word the manager had to say away from the cameras… Northern Carpets & Beds are a locally run bed & carpet showroom offering very competitive prices and exceptional service to the whole of Ayrshire & beyond. We are proud to back the Chronicle and look forward to seeing fellow Killie fans soon in store or on our website! Q. The defence is one part of the pitch where you want stability, but through circumstances in the first few games you’ve not been able to get that, whether it’s suspension, new players coming in, fitness or injury. Just how difficult has that been? “It’s a fair point. Robbie {Deas} played the cup games, but we were integrating a lot of new players into the cup games and it’s just about navigating through that and getting guys game time, as well as treating it properly because it’s the season starting. “You don’t want to go out of the cup and we’ve managed to avoid that, getting ourselves into a quarter-final. Then Robbie comes into the league games, but it’s important that when you’re adding to the place, you give them time and you don’t put too much pressure on them. “The pressure is always winning games. That demand will remain the same, but you still have to give them a bit of grace to understand that they’re learning. Like Jonny {Meier} and Cathal {McCarthy}, part of the back four is disrupted after 30 minutes. “That’s going to disrupt us, and it’s trying to build that continuity and understanding that there needs to be a rhythm in the team. Understanding that if somebody’s got your back, if you take a position, it’s natural because maybe Robbie’s been there and he understands that he’s got a natural flow in a certain position. “That’s why I would urge for an element of patience, but equally understand why they’re frustrated, because we are going behind and we’re making it difficult for ourselves. “I think teams have given us a lot of respect on the back of last year because we do want to play in a certain way. Every manager I hear talk says, ‘Neil’s got a good way of coaching and they have a nice way of playing’ Everybody knows. It’s not a secret. They’ll do the same homework on me as I do on their team. “The rhythm has yet to come for us. I’m quite calm. I’ve got a long projection, even though I know the pressures of modern-day management is short-term life. “But I can’t think about just trying to get results for the sake of it. That’s not what this club deserves. That’s not what I’m taking this job on the back of. “At Dundee, I lost my job after a year. I had an agreement and a viewpoint where I would try and build something, and sometimes you don’t get that luxury. “But I don’t believe a manager can go in with that short-sightedness. It’s a win, win, win, win. I get we want to win, win, win, win. But we’ve got to do it within the parameters of where we’re working. Whether it be budget, whether it be where we are in terms of our confidence levels or whatever. I’ve got a way I want to play. “And I’m damn sure not going to give up on what’s been successful because of a wee setback early in the season when we’re trying to build a team.” Q. Cathal McCarthy, for a young player, looks like he has good mentality and leadership traits. How impressed were you with him? “I’m glad you saw that - for one so young, he showed a lot of leadership qualities. We’re striving for everybody to own those qualities as well, but it shows the bravery of the youngster to come up here from Hull. “He’s been in their first team the whole time. He’s not been away from the first team and thought, ‘Right, you’re going out for the first loan.’ We’ve pushed and pulled to try and get him up. “And the young guy says, ‘Yeah.’ He watched us play last year. He wants to be part of it. He sees his development, which is really good for us here rather than actually being on the bench for Hull and maybe creeping in and out of the team. “He showed on Saturday that he’s got a zest for football. There didn’t seem to be any scar tissue. There didn’t seem to be any outward nerves. He’s just playing football. “That’s why I likened him a wee bit to the impact Fin {Findlay Curtis} had when he came in last year, because he’s just playing football. “And Cathal, to me, looked like he was just loving playing football, but doing it in the right way. Doing things that you expect from a good defender. Covering. Being aggressive. Front foot. Stepping in. “I think he ran the second most in our team. That’s sheer youthful exuberance and enthusiasm, and it’s going to take him a long way in his career.” Q. I know you’re not one to look back, but you must take confidence and belief from the fact that you came into a team that was in a worse position last year and hadn’t won in 17 games? “To be honest, I get that all the negative questions are going to happen before the positive ones because of how the league’s going. “Seriously, I don’t think it’s blasé or I’m being disrespectful to losing three league games. I’m not. Anybody who knows how I’m built, I’m not like that. “But it’s to understand where we are within our build and where we are in the season. It is important to reach back and look and say that even when times are bad, you can produce performances. “Like it happened there. I didn’t know until I came downstairs that day (3-0 win against Aberdeen in January) when somebody said, ‘You just managed by the skin of your teeth there to escape a club record of games without a win.’ “I wasn’t aware of that. I was aware that our own run when we came in wasn’t where I wanted, but I was so bullish to think, ‘You’ll do the right thing that day to get that result.’ “And then all of a sudden, you’re sitting back thinking, ‘That would have been my name on that, in history.’ But we’d only been in a short time, so I don’t get caught up in things. “I watched the Man City documentary with Pep. I don’t know if you’ve seen it. “Man City were on this horrid run and he’s like, ‘How does that change?’ We’ve got the best array of talent in the world money can buy and the best manager in the world, and he’s scratching his head thinking, ‘Right.’ “And the bottom line is, the win. Getting a win, it was like there’s a gear change. And all of a sudden, they went away and finished third that year. “There are lessons all over in football; maybe that’s where I’m learning in management, that I’m probably less emotional. Maybe it gives me a bit of clarity.” Q. You mentioned there being no panic in the building. Do you have to shield the boys from that? Do you tell them to stay off social media or anything like that? “I don’t. How can I control it? I can’t control it. “What I can say, and it’s good that you brought that up, the only thing they can control is themselves. “And an element of respect from different things, but all I’m caring about is how they live their life as a professional footballer, thinking about it all the time. “And then when they go in there, the only person they can really ultimately control is themselves, and work within the framework that we set them. “But I’m really excited about Wednesday. I’m not going into it thinking, ‘Oh, we’ve not won a league game.’ I can’t wait until Wednesday comes. I want to see my team perform. “I want to see them bounce back. I want to see them get that win. I want to see the fans celebrating. But we need to perform.” Q. Did you say Robbie Deas has had a scan? “He was getting it, I think, this morning. So I haven’t heard anything. It was early on, so I’m just waiting on it.” Q. On a positive note, it was good to see Cole Burke getting some minutes. Was he one that impressed you in the weeks leading up to the game? “I’d always had a mind of bringing Cole in pre-season, and he’d done his ankle in Belfast, so we had to wait until he came back, and he’s showing up in training. “So I felt that he deserved it – We’ve got an eye on youth here as well. Cole Coughlin and Ruari Ellis both are out at Queen of the South, and both of them showed really well in pre-season. “And they’re in and around it. I like to bring them back, and then I put them back out again. “We’ve got young Logan {Foster} training with us as well, so there’s no fear to put kids in. “And Cole went in there and I think he felt good just to get a bit of game time. It’s not nice when you are a few goals down, but that was a good experience for him.” Q. Is your fire burning even more now than ever? “It never really diminishes, to be honest - I run high. “But I’m just really passionate about my job. I’m passionate about this club. We work really hard to try and put the right things in place to get us results. “And I’ve no doubt that sooner or later it will turn.”