Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes praised Rory McKenzie’s influence after the midfielder helped his side secure victory over 10-man Motherwell in his first start since August.
But McInnes feared it might be the long-serving player’s last action for a while after he suffered a thigh injury in a comfortable 2-0 win.
The 31-year-old was one of five players drafted in following a 5-1 defeat by St Mirren, which made it one point from five matches and ended Killie’s hopes of making the William Hill Premiership top six.
McKenzie won the ball high up the pitch, shortly before Fraser Murray opened the scoring midway through the first half but he sustained an injury before coming off, halfway through the second period.
McInnes said: “I thought McKenzie’s experience was terrific. Gutted for Rory, he’s had to come off.
“We had it in mind that he might need to come off after 60-65 minutes, so we were actually just thinking of maybe taking him off. It was such an influential game and he looked as if he’d been enjoying it.
“It doesn’t look great to be honest, but we’ll see how he is. I think he felt it go pretty bad.”
McInnes explained he offered players a clean slate after the defeat in Paisley.
“Nobody really could have any complaints if they weren’t playing from last week, so it was all about trying to focus on this week,” he said.
“I said to the players, I’m going to look at training all week, just as if it’s my first day in the job, just watching you. I need to see your personality, I need to see the ones who are not going to be fazed by the situation.
“Any time you have a result like that, you don’t sleep the Saturday night. You’re in the Sunday, you’re having to go through the post-mortem and the meetings.
“It’s not the type of meetings you want as a manager and you try to keep them at a minimum. But they are meetings that you have to sometimes have as you go throughout your career.
“I watched training right after the meeting and McKenzie was outstanding.”
Motherwell manager Michael Wimmer bemoaned the VAR intervention which saw Kofi Balmer sent off in the 26th minute after catching Murray on the thigh as he followed through on a tackle.
Wimmer, who felt Aberdeen striker Pape Gueye should have seen red against his team last weekend, said: “If I’m honest, it was never a red card for me because he tried to clear the situation. It was one swing, one movement.
“This is never a red card. If this is a red card, then last weekend in Aberdeen, it was a double red card.”
Wimmer, who plans to appeal against the decision, was also “angry” over the second goal Motherwell conceded when Joe Wright headed home from a 53rd-minute corner.
“A set-piece is man against man,” he said. “You have a clear responsibility for your opponent.
“If they get a second goal because they have one player more, then it’s OK. But a set-piece, seven minutes after the break, it’s not good.”
Motherwell were briefly down to nine men when Dom Thompson jumped on the grounded Danny Armstrong but referee Matthew MacDermid downgraded the punishment to a yellow card after another trip to the monitor.
Wimmer called on Thompson to “control his emotions” and McInnes added: “I cannot believe how that’s overturned. It’s a slam dunk, it’s a WWF move. He’s very fortunate.”
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