'We've got enough' - Kilmarnock midfielder warns Celtic not to take them lightly
· Martyn Simpson · 2026-08-04 · nguồn gốc
'We've got enough' - Kilmarnock midfielder warns Celtic not to take them lightly despite opening day defeat
Ex Portsmouth man knows Ayrshire outfit need to improve ahead of facing Martin O’Neill’s side at Rugby Park.
The first round of the 2026/27 Scottish Premiership season is in the books with Celtic rounding off the opening weekend by beating Dundee 1-0 on Monday night.
Martin O’Neill’s side joined Falkirk, Aberdeen, Motherwell and St Johnstone in picking up all three points from their matches while Rangers and Dundee United played out a 1-1 draw. One of the beaten sides was Kilmarnock, who face the reigning champions next.
The Ayrshire outfit were beaten 4-3 in a thrilling match in Perth and are hoping to bounce back in their first home fixture of the new league campaign. They will have to overcome Celtic at Rugby Park in order to get their first win.
Kilmarnock midfielder warns Celtic not to take them lightly ahead of Rugby Park clash
Ahead of that match, midfielder Tom Lowery has warned the Hoops’ that they believe they ‘have enough’ in their squad to get a result. However, the former Portsmouth man knows they will need to improve on the performance that saw them beaten at McDiarmid Park.
He said: “We will have to improve on things before facing Celtic. That will obviously be a really tough game, but we believe we’ve got enough in the dressing room to put on a performance and get a result.
“So it’s about us now We are still confident that we are a really good side and we can do well in this league, that’s not going to change from one result or one bad performance.”
St Johnstone beat Killie in a seven goal thriller on Saturday where the hosts were 1-0 and then 2-1 up before their visitors took a 3-2 lead in the second half. The Perth club managed to turn things around and secure the 4-3 victory.
“It was a poor performance from us,” added Lowrey. “I’d agree that we didn’t deserve anything from the game, but we’ve got to go pick ourselves up, work hard this week and go again next weekend.
“We weren’t surprised by St Johnstone; we knew they were a good footballing side, but I think it was more about our performance rather than them taking us by surprise. We just weren’t good enough.
“We did well to get ahead in the game after a bad start. We’ve conceded two set pieces in the second half which us players need to do better at.
“That’s where we’ve got to improve. It was a great away support, great turnout from the fans, It’s really disappointing to score three goals away from home and concede four like that. We’re more disappointed with the performance that we put on.”
Celtic’s match with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park is scheduled for a 1:30pm kick off on Sunday, August 9. Elsewhere in round two will be Rangers first home league match as they welcome Hibs to Ibrox while Hearts are back at Tynecastle with Dundee United their visitors.
St Mirren host St Johnstone and Aberdeen travel to Dundee while Motherwell host Falkirk at Fir Park. The Steelmen, along with Rangers, Hearts and Hibs, are all in European action this week as well.