Alex Dyer was delighted to see Stuart Findlay reap the rewards of his recovery work after the defender marked his Kilmarnock return with two goals against Queen’s Park.
The centre-back is just back from a two-month lay-off caused by a troublesome hamstring but he had no problem getting off the ground as he helped squash the Spiders 6-0.
The Scotland defender found the net with a brace of headers to help seal Killie’s place in the William Hill Scottish Cup fifth-round draw.
He even stole the man of the match award away from veteran winger Chris Burke, who missed out despite teeing up all of Kilmarnock’s goals.
There was no complaints from Dyer, though, who was pleased to see Findlay back in action against the League Two side.
The Killie boss – who also saw Alex Bruce, Greg Kiltie, new signing Nicke Kabamba and Connor Johnson score – said: “Having Stuart back is a big plus for us.
“He’s a really good player and we’ve missed him. He’s worked hard on his injury and he’s got through it.
“The last 10 days that he’s been back training he’s been very good. He’s come through his little disappointments and got two goals today which is a nice way to finish off the week for him.”
The win ends Killie’s seven-game run without a victory and is also Dyer’s first since he was given command of the team after Angelo Alessio’s sacking.
“It was a good performance,” said Steve Clark’s former number two. “I thought the boys did a good, professional job.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy but once we got the ball down, started playing and got the first goal the boys went from strength to strength.
“Six assists for Burkey is good. Defenders scoring goals and new signings doing all right. It was a good day.
“Burkey has mentioned (the six assists) a few times. But he’s a humble geezer and a good professional.
“We’ll park this game and look forward to the next one.
“We know what we’ve been through over the last month or so. It was important that we won the game. It was important that we scored some goals.
“It’s nice that we’re in the next round of the cup.”
