Rangers merited win - Paatelainen

Paatelainen is hoping his side can continue to perform well in the SPL

Kilmarnock boss Mixu Paatelainen had no complaints after his side's 3-0 Scottish Cup defeat by Rangers.

"I thought Rangers passed the ball better and played really well tonight," Paatelainen told BBC Scotland.

"They were hungry to win the game and showed that they're a quality team and deserved to win.

"In the second half we created a couple of very good openings to score but couldn't take the chances, and I have no complaints about the result."

Kilmarnock went into the fourth-round match at Ibrox as one of the form teams in Scotland, having lost just once in their previous 10 games.

But by half-time in Glasgow they found themselves 2-0 down thanks to crisp strikes by Lee McCulloch and Kyle Lafferty.

Kilmarnock struggled to make inroads towards the Rangers goal and the hosts sealed victory from the penalty spot, with Steven Whittaker converting after Vladmir Weiss had been felled.

"I felt our passing wasn't as good as it could have been, but we'll dust ourselves down and we'll go again," said Paatelainen, who has guided the Ayrshire club to fourth in the Scottish Premier League.

Rangers' Steven Naismith and Steven Davis were both yellow-carded for fouls on Alexei Eremenko.

Paatelainen cut a furious figure on the touchline at the treatment his on-loan playmaker was receiving.

"Obviously when there are many players getting booked for fouls on one player it raises questions," said Paatelainen.

"But football is a contact sport and that's part and parcel of the game."