Referee Muir awards Kilmarnock a penalty after penalising Foster

Walter Smith conceded his Rangers team were not at their best in the 2-1 win over Kilmarnock and felt the award of a penalty against his side was "strange".

"We didn't have the full sharpness required for a game like this," Smith told BBC Scotland.

"Kilmarnock managed to get themselves a penalty. It got them back in the game.

"If that was penalty and Nikica Jelavic's [claim] at the other end of the pitch wasn't a penalty then I don't know where the referee was."

With Rangers leading 1-0, Richard Foster was penalised for a high challenge on Tim Clancy and Jamie Hamill converted to draw Killie level.

Moments later, Jelavic went down in the box under the challenge of Hamill and referee Alan Muir waved play on.

Both sides had other penalty claims turned down during the Scottish Premier League encounter at Ibrox.

El-Hadji Diouf had given Rangers the lead and it was an own goal by Clancy near the end that handed Smith's men victory.

"We were obviously delighted to win it," Smith said.

"Kilmarnock defended really well, were always dangerous on the break, although we restricted them to few opportunities at goal.

"We got a break with an own goal at the end after missing a few other chances from set plays but, overall, we were a little bit off the pace of the game, which is to be expected."

Rangers are next in action against PSV Eindhoven in Thursday's Europa League last-16 second leg, the sides having drawn 0-0 in the Netherlands last Thursday, and the win against Killie means Smith's men, who have a game in hand, are two points behind SPL leaders Celtic.

"I felt the two league games before the international break, the St Mirren game last week and this one were vital for us," added Smith. "We've managed to win both of them."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version