Kenny Shiels frustrated with Kilmarnock’s double trips to the Highlands

Kenny Shiels on the touchline at Inverness last season.SNS Group

Kilmarnock boss Kenny Shiels has expressed his sympathy with his club’s supporters after being handed four trips to the Highlands next season.

The Ayrshire side have to play both Ross County and Inverness Caledonian Thistle away in the opening weeks of the campaign and are one of three clubs, along with Celtic and St Johnstone, drawn to make four trips in total to the region before the split.

However the festive fixture list has been slightly kinder to Shiels’ men with a home game against Hearts on Boxing Day followed by short away trips to Motherwell and St Mirren.

While acknowledging the fixture list always leaves someone unhappy, the Northern Irishman feels the Killie fans have been handed a raw deal.

He told the Daily Record: “I know it is impossible to keep everyone happy and the people who have the job of doing the fixtures have a difficult task.

“But my first feeling upon hearing the news of the fixtures for next season is that it’s not fair on us.

“Financially, it is going to be a massive outlay for our supporters.

“There is a recession going on and to have to make four trips to the Highlands is certainly an imbalance because it is at least an eight-hour round trip.”

Kilmarnock’s second round of games up north start against Inverness CT on January 26 before another trip to Victoria Park on March 30.

After making two trips to both Aberdeen and Inverness last term, Killie also faced Dundee United twice at Tannadice.

Shiels added: “We are the most southern club in the SPL so those were the furthest trips we would have, yet we got all three of them twice before the split.

“Now it’s happening again with Dingwall and Inverness and I just don’t feel that is fair on our supporters.

“Our away support is right up there among the best and I am really proud of that so it’s a bit frustrating that they are going to have to make so many long journeys again.”

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