McGhee believes injuries have contributed to Aberdeen's current slump

Manager Mark McGhee hinted that Aberdeen's injury-plagued season has proved to be a factor in their 2-0 defeat by Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.

Aberdeen will now finish in the bottom-six for the first time in six years, and McGhee expects more from his side.

"Our chances of making the top half of the table were undermined by the loss of Sone Aluko and Zander Diamond this season," said McGhee.

"It's not just a case of going there and me not doing my job well enough."

Aberdeen's Davide Grassi's turned the ball into his own net after 25 minutes, then Kilmarnock's Allan Russell headed in the winner for the hosts with 17 minutes remaining.

Kilmarnock looked like a team that had more to play for Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee

McGhee believed Kilmarnock were the more determined side and his players need to perform better in order to have a future at the club.

"Of course, I look at my own performance - I always will," said McGhee.

"All I will say is that whether we have anything to play for or not, we are Aberdeen Football Club and we expect players to earn their dough and go out and give 100% regardless of what they think is at stake.

"At times, every player on the pitch did something well and at some point in the game, every player was trying; but as a group, we didn't apply ourselves as well as we can for 90 minutes.

"I think that was the difference between the two teams - Kilmarnock looked like a team that had more to play for.

"Kilmarnock looked like a team that knew they were fighting relegation. It gave them the edge to win the match."

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