Colin Doyle reckons having fans at Rugby Park could be the difference between survival and relegation.
The Irish keeper has yet to play in front of a Kilmarnock crowd – and he hopes they will give the team the lift they need to come from behind to beat Dundee and cling on to their Premiership status.
Killie need to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Dundee on Monday night and there will be 500 supporters cheering them on in their bid.
Doyle knows how important that 12th Man backing will be.
The 35-year-old said: “It will be a huge help having fans. I haven’t played in front of the Killie fans yet so I’m sure it’ll be good.
“We had a test event against Aberdeen, and there was Dundee fans on Thursday, that was good.
“I’m sure the fans will cheer the lads on and give the team that extra lift that we need to try and overturn this deficit."
Doyle has been in the game long enough to know Killie are far from out of the tie – but he knows how tough Championship side Dundee will make it for them on Monday.
Brandon Haunstrup pulled one back for the Ayrshire outfit after Jordan McGhee and Charlie Adam put the Dark Blues 2-0 up in Thursday's first leg.
Doyle said: “We managed to get back in the game, we were disappointed to go 2-0 down but we got back into it and now we can just see what happens.
“There’s no beating about the bush, it’s not the result or performance we wanted.
“We are still in the tie, it could have been worse. We could have left Dundee 3-0 down.
“We have to be confident, 90 minutes is a long time in football. They were up for it, they got the early goal.
“But on Monday we will be up for it, we will be better and hopefully that will see us alright. I have been in football a long time. I have seen bigger leads overturned, we know we can do it."
Doyle added: “We want to win, we want to stay in the league because it’s a fantastic league to be in.
“We will give everything on Monday, we will do all we can to keep this team in the league.
“We need to play the game and forget about the occasion, it will be difficult.
“They will come down confident, but we have to manage that and hopefully get an early goal to put pressure on them."
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