‘You don't play the occasion, you play the game’ – Robbie Deas ready for Ayrshire derby

Robbie Deas knows Kilmarnock cannot afford to get caught up in the emotion of the occasion when Rugby Park comes alive for tonight’s Ayrshire derby.

A 10,000-strong crowd is expected as Ayr United make the short trip up the A77 for a place in the League Cup quarter-finals.

For Deas, it promises to be his first experience of a senior derby in front of supporters – and the 26-year-old is expecting an atmosphere unlike anything he has encountered before.

But for all the noise, passion and rivalry surrounding the players, the Killie vice-captain believes the key is actually to forget about the occasion once the first whistle blows.

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“The big thing I learned from last year is you don’t play the occasion, you just play the game,” he said.

“I think that there’ll be a lot of noise tomorrow night from both sets of fans but at the end of the day, it’s about what we do as players on the park, and if we execute the game plan, we’ll be fine.”

The Ayrshire derby perhaps does not always command the wider attention afforded to some of Scottish football’s other rivalries, with the two clubs rarely sharing a division in recent decades.