Kilmarnock can beat the drop but need to tighten up - Bell

Kilmarnock edged a point nearer to cinch Premiership safety after a dramatic 2-2 draw with Dundee at the weekend, yet former Rugby Park goalkeeper Cammy Bell insists the squad must eradicate costly defensive lapses if they are to secure their top-flight status.

The Ayrshire side twice led during an enthralling contest but required a late penalty stop from keeper Kelle Roos to avoid defeat. The result leaves them within touching distance of 10th-placed St Mirren and keeps alive hopes of escaping the relegation play-off berth once the post-split fixtures begin.

Bell, speaking on BBC’s Scottish Football Podcast, believes the team possesses sufficient quality to survive but says consistency is now paramount. “I do think they’ve got enough,” he stated. “They need to start showing it on a little bit of a more consistent basis.”

Highlighting the run-in against fellow bottom-six opponents, Bell added: “They’ve got some games now where they’re obviously facing everybody in the bottom six that they can go and make huge margins by winning games of football.”

While encouraged by Kilmarnock’s attacking threat, the former Scotland international remains alarmed by their defensive record. “I think they’ve got players going forward that can score goals. Defensively, it’s always concerned me this season about Kilmarnock conceding far too many goals. And again, at the weekend, you look at the goals they conceded.”

Bell singled out Simon Murray’s header as symptomatic of the problem: “A top striker is standing in the middle of the six-yard box all alone just to head into the back of the net. That’s not acceptable. You’re going to lose goals if you allow players like that the space and time in the box.”

With pivotal fixtures looming, Bell says manager Neil McCann must shore up the back line. “Neil McCann needs to find a way to be tighter defensively, not gift teams goals, and I think they’ll be OK if they can do that. But they’ve got some big, big games coming up.”