Neil McCann proud after hauling Kilmarnock away from relegation trouble

Neil McCann spoke of his pride in hauling Kilmarnock away from relegation trouble after a dramatic 3-1 victory over Dundee.

The ex-Scotland international was appointed in January with Killie six points adrift in the play-off place and on a 14-match winless streak.

Thanks to a Tom Lowery strike and Joe Hugill’s late double, McCann steered his side to a sixth home win in nine since then.

That was enough to secure William Hill Premiership safety with one match to spare, even though rivals St Mirren won in Aberdeen.

McCann stressed that he always believed his squad would be good enough to stay up.

“There are so many words you can use to describe how I’m feeling now but the first is ‘pride’,” said McCann.

“These were a group of boys who were probably pointed at with people saying: ‘They’ll go down’.

“But, as a staff, we didn’t believe it. It was a difficult period and we had to lift them, which takes a bit of doing.

“We were fortunate to add to the group and they picked the dressing room up. “We pushed them to play with bravery – and that’s not easy in the position we found them in.

“As soon as we got our first win, I felt we could ignite – and that’s what happened. We set standards and the boys have met them head on.

“Nobody likes coming here now. I’m so pleased for Billy (Bowie, owner) and everyone behind the scenes.”

After 77 minutes, an own goal cancelled out Lowery’s opener after Charlie Reilly’s strike was deflected in to put the escape act in doubt.

But McCann was thrilled by the calm exhibited by his team.

Ex-Manchester United youngster Joe Hugill netted from a penalty on 85 minutes and added a third in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

“Inside I was thinking ‘another deflection!’,” McCann admitted.

“We’ve suffered some bad luck with a few of them.

“But I was calm in terms of what I expected from the team.

“I felt the nerves from the stand and I said at half-time: ‘We haven’t performed yet’.

“We were aware of the score at Pittodrie.

“I just told them to play with personality and forget what’s happening on the outside.

“Don’t panic, stick with the process then we get a penalty and Joe stuck it away.”

Steven Pressley gave several fringe players a chance and Charley Oosenbrugh, 16, a debut off the bench.

The Dundee boss, whose side secured their top-flight status on Saturday, said: “I was very pleased with the attitude.

“It was first-class against a fully charged Kilmarnock side.

“I asked for a certain intensity within the performance and I saw that.

“There were some really good individual performances and we had a chance to blood one of our finest, exciting talents in Charley.”

Oosenbrugh gave away the spot-kick that led to Killie’s second goal.

But Pressley backed him to brush off that setback and he could well see more minutes in the Sunday’s finale against Aberdeen.

“At first-team level there are harsher lessons,” said Pressley.

“But that’s part of your growth. We’re just delighted he got his opportunity.”