Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes says victory over St Johnstone would be 'important'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Derek McInnes insists a win over St Johnstone would be just the tonic this Christmas.Kilmarnock are now three unbeaten with seven points from the last nine available.

A win over the Perth side this weekend would make that 10 from 12 heading into a busy festive week, and McInnes admits he'd be delighted with that return.A victory twinned with Hearts and St Mirren drawing at Tynecastle would see the Rugby Park side sitting third in the Scottish Premiership for Christmas.McInnes said: “It is an important game, we felt we were good in long spells last week, we need to turn those kind of games into wins.“If we win against St Johnstone then the point against Livingston looks a lot better.“I think there’s a consistency of performance that’s allowed us to be in the top-six, but for that to continue we need to keep searching for improvements because other teams will improve."Joe Wright will be back in contention for selection this week, and McInnes said: “Getting Joe back is a big lift, we’ve got the third most clean sheets in the league, he is another strong defender.“He’s got a goal in him too, he’s probably most likely to get something in that regard, he’s good in both boxes.“He really wants to score goals, that gives us another really good option.“With the tightness of the fixtures it’s so key to have as many players as possible available to us.“We are working game to game now hoping we can get through without any more injuries." Read next: Don't miss the latest Ayrshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter