Smith wary of in-form Kilmarnock

10 January 2011 09:30

Rangers manager Walter Smith insists Mixu Paatelainen deserves plenty of credit for the change in fortune he has masterminded at Kilmarnock this season.

But he will still be determined to inflict cup heartache on the Killie boss for the second time this term when the two sides meet in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup at Ibrox on Monday night. As well as defeating the Ayrshire side twice in the SPL, Rangers sent Kilmarnock crashing out of the Co-operative Insurance Cup.

"I think Hearts are the in-form team in the SPL at the moment but Kilmarnock have also had a terrific season," said Smith.

"They made one or two changes at the start of the season and it took a little bit of time for them to settle but recently they have been playing exceptionally well.

"They are on a good run and they play a good level of football and Mixu is to be congratulated for the way the team is playing.

"Not only are they playing a good level of football, but they are getting good results as well, which is the main thing.

"For us, it's as difficult a cup tie as we could have got at this stage, even allowing for the fact that it's at home. But, being at home, we hope we can take advantage of that but we know we have an extremely tough tie."

Rangers and Kilmarnock could potentially meet six times this season, if the latter remain in the top half of the SPL beyond the split, but Smith had no complaints about the number of meetings between the two clubs.

"We can't avoid it, it's the luck of the draw," he said.

"We've had difficult enough games against them and I'm sure this will be one as well."

Source: PA