Kilmarnock manager Mixu Paatelainen apologises to Rui Miguel
Kilmarnock manager Mixu Paatelainen apologised to Rui Miguel after he substituted the forward in Kilmarnock’s 3-0 win over Hearts on Sunday, 31 October.
Miguel only played 38 minutes of the first-half before Paatelainen decided to make the switch and bring on Conor Sammon as a replacement for the Portuguese player.
"It was purely a tactical substitution. I apologised to Rui at half-time,” said the Kilmarnock manager.
Kilmarnock were a different side in the second half and Sammon scored the second goal of the game.
The Kilmarnock manager placed none of the blame on Miguel for his team’s lack of threat up front in the first-half.
"It was my mistake. I chose the wrong type of player for this game. Conor scored a fantastic goal as well, so it turned out to be a good decision," said Paatelainen.
Miguel was signed by Kilmarnock during the summer from CSKA Sofia and the manager believes that the striker will turn out to be an influential player for the club this season.
"Rui is a fantastic player and will hopefully score lots of goals for us, but for this match, I thought Conor Sammon offered us more,” he added.
Paatelainen admitted that the forward was substituted as the Portuguese player’s game did not suit the style of match that developed at Tynecastle.
"When you play the counter attack, you need players who run behind defences. Rui is more of a link-up player with his fantastic technical ability. Hearts are full of solid guys at the back and we didn't get any joy in the first half, so that's why I made
the substitution,” said Paatelainen.
Kilmarnock will visit St Johnstone on Saturday, 6 November and they will be looking for a similar performance after their impressive display away to Hearts.
Paatelainen is expected to start Miguel again and the striker will hope that he will get more of a chance to impress the manager in the match.
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