Derek McInnes hailed the mentality of his Kilmarnock players after their stunning comeback win over St Mirren.

Killie trailed by two goals at the interval but they produced an incredible comeback as they scored five goals in 18 minutes to secure a 5-2 triumph to overtake St Mirren in fourth in the cinch Premiership table.

Captain Kyle Vassell scored twice with Marley Watkins, Danny Armstrong and David Watson all on the scoresheet to leave a visibly delighted McInnes praising the character of his squad.

He said: “When the questions were getting asked of my players today, they met that responsibility brilliantly.

“I’ve got proper men in that changing room and it was a proper grown-up performance.

“We were 2-0 down at home and the fans were getting a bit antsy. It’s easy for my staff and I to point out what’s going wrong but the players stood up.

“I wasn’t surprised that there was an element of a response there and once we got one goal, I felt the second one was coming.

“I was always confident that we had another goal in us but to get five was fantastic. I’m delighted for my front two getting the goals as they led the line well.

“It was such a big game and it felt like a proper game, which is recognition of the season that both clubs are having. We were second best for the first half hour and we never met the threat that they posed.

“We didn’t do stuff that we worked on through the week and there was loads of stuff wrong with us in that opening half hour. Sometimes you need half-time to reset and we scored five goals in 18 minutes – it could have been more.”

Meanwhile, Stephen Robinson believes his St Mirren players were unable to deal with the momentum shift in the second half.

He said: “It was three goals in about five minutes and the ball must’ve only been in play for 90 seconds. “As a group, we have to learn from that and can we slow the game down?

“We knew that we’d need to defend in the second half but we didn’t do that well enough and we had no ownership of the game.

“The momentum kept increasing and we were unable to deal with it. We looked naive today for that spell and that’s something that we need to learn from.

“There won’t be a hangover from that because it’s not something that happens every week.

“You’re not fifth in the table if that’s the norm but know that it’s not acceptable and it’s a wasted opportunity.”

Kilmarnock scored three goals in an incredible seven-minute spell to complete a breathtaking 5-2 comeback win over St Mirren at Rugby Park.

More than 2,000 away fans travelled through to Ayrshire and they were singing about playing in the Europa League at half-time as they led 2-0 courtesy of goals from Charles Dunne and Michael Mandron.

The hosts were miles off the pace in the first half but they were unrecognisable after the break as they blew the Saints away to win.

Kyle Vassell got them back into the game on the hour before Danny Armstrong and Marley Watkins completed the comeback with goals in quick succession to leave St Mirren shell-shocked.

The home support were in complete disbelief at Kilmarnock’s barnstorming turnaround and they were sent into dreamland when Vassell scored his second before David Watson added the icing on the cake with a sensational solo effort.

Both sides entered the encounter with realistic European ambitions but the home win moves fourth-placed Kilmarnock two points ahead of their opponents.

In stark contrast to the second-half madness, it was an uneventful opening to the game before Charles Dunne opened the scoring for the visitors in the 20th minute.

Kilmarnock failed to clear Greg Kiltie’s corner and the ball fell invitingly for Dunne to powerfully rifle the ball past Dennis for his first goal in six years.

The hosts struggled to respond but they almost equalised in the 35th minute when Watkins’ looping header from Armstrong’s free-kick was brilliantly tipped over by Zach Hemming.

St Mirren had a strong penalty claim denied in the 38th minute but they were not frustrated for long as they scored from the resulting corner. There was a sense of deja vu as Kiltie’s corner was not dealt with and Mandron bundled home from close range.

Derek McInnes’ message to his players during the interval clearly had an impact as Killie threatened on multiple occasions before captain Vassell scored their first on the hour, wriggling clear of two defenders in the box to prod the ball past Hemming.

Vassell’s goal galvanised Killie and they were back on level terms just four minutes later when referee Ross Hardie awarded them a penalty. Ryan Flynn clumsily barged into Watkins and Armstrong confidently converted.

Killie were rampant and Watkins scored their third goal in a crazy seven-minute spell with a deft header from Armstrong’s cross in the 68th minute.

Vassell doubled the hosts’ advantage five minutes later when he raced onto a long-ball before producing an excellent drilled finish into the bottom corner.

Watson saved the best for last as he embarked on a mazy run before slotting post Hemming in the 79th minute to complete a dream second-half for Kilmarnock.

Jack Butland claims Rangers just keeping look ahead to the next challenge after their 2-1 win against Kilmarnock on Wednesday night kept them two points clear of Celtic at the top of the cinch Premiership.

Killie had beaten Michael Beale’s Rangers 1-0 on the opening league game of the season, but found successor Philippe Clement’s Light Blues more robust – eventually.

Danny Armstrong scored with an 11th-minute penalty after his cross had struck the arm of John Lundstram arm before Butland made a great save from Matty Kennedy’s close-range strike early in the second half, which proved pivotal.

Two goals in four minutes – a trademark free-kick from Rangers captain James Tavernier and a Tom Lawrence strike –  made it 11 wins in a row for Rangers to keep them ahead of the Hoops, who demolished Dundee 7-1 at Parkhead.

Butland told Rangers TV that attention turns to Motherwell at Ibrox on Saturday.

He said: “We just keep going. Three points is all that matters at the minute.

“Yes, we’d love to have a clean sheet – penalties is frustrating – but we’re getting the wins and that’s what we need to do.

“Obviously it’s a lot better feeling than it was the last time we came here.

“So we’ll enjoy it, get back to training, recover and look forward to Motherwell at the weekend.

“There’s never any panic, we just remained calm, kept reiterating at half-time why we’re in the position we are in and how we’ve got there.

“And we just continued to do that in the second half, remained calm and in the end we got two brilliant finishes from Tav and Tom and I guess it’s three points that we were after.”

Butland enjoyed his reflex save from Kennedy, diving low to his right to claw the ball away, saying: “It was a huge moment. I think the lad thought he had scored so it’s nice to be able to have that moment. That can sometimes take the wind out of a team’s sails as well.

“It seemed to give us a lift. It could have gone a little bit sideways at that point if that goes in so it was nice to contribute with that and ultimately then set us up for a really big second half.”

It was another huge contribution from set-piece specialist Tavernier, who scored his 20th goal of the season.

“That’s what Tav does,” said Butland. “It’s not easy for someone to step up and take penalties like he does and score goals like he does and especially the free-kicks as well.

“It is something that he works on religiously every day.

“So when you’re a leader like he is, when you play the way he does and when you practice the way he does, those opportunities go in and he earns them and he’s come up with another vital goal for us.”

Philippe Clement claims Rangers were like “Bambi on ice” on the artificial surface at Rugby Park before they held on to top spot in the cinch Premiership with a 2-1 comeback win over Kilmarnock.

On a rain-soaked night, Killie wide-man Danny Armstrong scored from the spot in the 11th minute after a John Lundstram handball.

Gers keeper Jack Butland made a great save from Matty Kennedy early in the second half before a trademark free-kick from Gers captain James Tavernier and a Tom Lawrence strike kept the visitors two points clear of Celtic.

Clement referenced Disney’s animated feature film about Bambi the deer in his post-match analysis.

“Resilience, mentality, solidarity and the quality to adapt,” said Clement, who revealed wide-man Oscar Cortes will be assessed after going off with what looked like a hamstring injury.

“We started the game well with a good set-piece from which we could have scored – but they saved it on the line.

“Had we gone in front it’s a totally different game. But then after 10 minutes you get this penalty against you, which was a frustrating moment.

“You then have an opponent who sits back and waits for your mistakes to make counter attacks and to be dangerous.

“And our tempo was too slow in the first half. We needed some time to adapt because it was a totally different kind of football.

“At moments I felt my players were like Bambi on ice. They had to adapt to that and we spoke about it at half-time.

“After that they were great. We were massive in every sense, the resilience, the tempo, the fighting spirit. This is a major win.”

Clement also believes Rangers should have had a penalty late in the game for a Lewis Mayo hand ball.

He said: “One thing to add, we had a penalty given against us but we could have had an easier last five minutes if we’d also been given a penalty.

“I want to hear the reason why they give the first penalty and the second not. That’s really not clear for me.

“So we go back to the story about handballs. I hope you guys can explain something about that because it was a really weird situation again for me.”

Killie boss Derek McInnes believes individual moments in Rangers’ favour was the difference between the teams.

He said: “Disappointed we never took anything from it.

“But the games comes down to moments. In terms of performance there was nothing between us and Rangers tonight.

“But Jack Butland’s save at 1-0 just confirms how good he is. That’s why he is probably going to the Euros. That was a huge moment for Rangers in the context of the game.

“Tavernier’s free kick at first I thought had gone around the wall and was blaming my goalie and shouting at my goalie coach but the height he got to get it up and over the wall was top class.

“He does that time and time again for Rangers. And for their second goal the ball breaks to Tom Lawrence and it was an unbelievable strike.”

Rangers maintained their advantage over Celtic at the top of the cinch Premiership but only after a hard-fought 2-1 comeback win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.

Killie wide-man Danny Armstrong scored from the spot in the 11th minute of an energetic first half and Derek McInnes’ side were worth their interval lead.

The Gers had to dig deep and captain James Tavernier levelled in the 55th minute with a trademark free-kick before midfielder Tom Lawrence netted with a fine finish just four minutes later as the visitors reasserted themselves.

With 10 league games remaining – five before the split – Philippe Clement’s side are two points ahead of Celtic, who demolished Dundee 7-1 at Parkhead to keep hot on the heels of the Govan men.

The visitors had racked up 10 wins in a row with a 5-0 win over Hearts at the weekend, including a 3-1 win over Killie on January 2, the only defeat for the Ayrshire outfit in their last 14 outings.

Clement had noted the vagaries of the artificial surface and again tinkered with his squad to suit, making three changes with Borna Barisic, Ross McCausland and Fabio Silva coming back in while the home side were unchanged.

Silva had the first effort on goal after five minutes, his close-range shot deflected for a corner from which Rangers defender Connor Goldson’s header was pushed behind by Killie keeper Will Dennis.

Liam Donnelly came close with a header at the other end as Killie responded but moments later John Lundstram blocked an Armstrong cross with his arm and referee David Dickinson pointed to the spot.

Armstrong confidently beat Jack Butland with his penalty and yet another upset was on the cards.

Clement’s men appeared ill at ease as the route-one first-half unfolded further and Kilmarnock continued chasing and harrying.

There was some controversy in the 40th minute when Mohamed Diomande appeared to prevent Liam Polworth from cleanly latching on to his short pass, but Dickinson played on and was not required by VAR to check his pitchside monitor, to the ire of the home players and supporters.

Cyriel Dessers and Ridvan Yilmaz replaced Silva and Barisic for the start of the second half – Dujon Sterling would replace McCausland – but Butland soon had to make a fine one-handed save to prevent Matty Kennedy stroking in a second from six yards out.

Kilmarnock paid for that miss after defender Lewis Mayo fouled Lawrence 25 yards from goal, with Tavernier stepping up to send his curling shot past the diving Dennis.

Rain continued to swirl around the ground as Rangers went for the second, which came when Lawrence pounced on a loose ball at the edge of the box and guided his shot low past Dennis and into the far corner for his first goal of the season, sparking wild scenes of delight in the stand behind the goal which housed the visiting fans, some of whom spilled out.

The game had swung towards the rejuvenated Ibrox men and Dessers hit the bar from a Tavernier corner.

In the 70th minute, Oscar Cortes limped off with what looked like a hamstring problem to be replaced by Scott Wright and the game was still in the balance.

Diomande curled a shot past the far post from 16 yards as play sped from end to end and Dessers got tangled up as he tried to capitalise on a mistake by Killie centre-back Stuart Findlay.

Six minutes were added on but there were no more goals which meant a crucial three points for Rangers, but Celtic’s stunning win over Dundee confirmed there is still plenty left in the title race.