Gros delighted Paatelainen by scoring in his first Killie start

Finishing in the top six of the Scottish Premier League would be Kilmarnock's equivalent of winning the title, according to Mixu Paatelainen.

"At the start of the season, our target was to survive the SPL," the Kilmarnock manager told BBC Scotland after the 2-0 win over St Mirren at Rugby Park.

"The boys have done fantastically well this season.

"We sit in fourth at the moment and, if we qualify for the top six, it's like winning a title for us."

Under Paatelainen, Kilmarnock have earned praise for their desire to play passing football.

But the Finn believes they will still have a battle on their hands to remain in the top six by the time for league splits into two for the final round of fixtures.

"It would be a fantastic achievement for the boys, but it is going to be a dogfight all the way to the end, so we don't get carried away at all," he said.

William Gros made his full debut at home and scored a fantastic goal and showed good composure Kilmarnock manager Mixu Paatelainen

"We have established the style of play, how we want to pass the ball, how we want to play, quite well this season.

"If we finish higher than sixth, it is always a bonus."

Paatelainen praised striker William Gros, who scored the opening goal from an Alexei Eremenko pass and then set up the Finn for the second.

"I am delighted for William Gros," said the manager. "He made his full debut at home and scored a fantastic goal and showed good composure.

"Those two linked up pretty well. Alexei is a playmaker and a half.

"He showed, especially in the first half, how good a player he is and even he did his defensive duties as well."

Anssi Jaakkola also made his first start in goal after Cammy Bell was ruled out through injury.

"He has got real presence," said Paatelainen. "He is great at collecting crosses, he is a calm character.

"He is very sharp as well at making saves for a big lad and his distribution is good. So I think he has a good chance.

"We have three fantastic goalkeepers. Kyle Letheren is there as well and Cammy Bell obviously, so we are spoilt."

St Mirren had most of the pressure in the second half as they attempted to cancel out Kilmarnock's two first-half strikes.

"Every match is very difficult and we always knew that St Mirren are a very spirited team," added Paatelainen.

"So we had to dig deep and we had to be collectively excellent.

"In the second half, we realised that and it was exactly what we did. All credit to the boys, they all stuck in.

"In the first half, I was so delighted with the way we passed the ball, the movement, the way we created chances."

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