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 once again proved a thorn in Celtic’s side as David Watson headed a stoppage-time equaliser at Parkhead to deal a major blow to the Hoops’ title hopes.

A first-half header from Kyogo Furuhashi looked like being just enough to send Celtic three points ahead of Rangers in the cinch Premiership title race.

But Watson headed into the corner of the net from fellow substitute Fraser Murray’s cross after Alexandro Bernabei had misjudged the flight of the ball.

The 1-1 draw gives Rangers the chance to move two points clear at the top of the table when they face St Johnstone in Perth on Sunday, having already clawed back a seven-point deficit since Philippe Clement took over eight games into the season.

Kilmarnock had already beaten their hosts twice at Rugby Park this season – once in the Viaplay Cup – and their late goal came from one of 12 shots at goal.

Joe Hart twice saved well from Liam Donnelly and Killie manager Derek McInnes was frustrated his side did not get a penalty for Stephen Welsh’s sliding challenge on Marley Watkins.

Neither referee John Beaton nor video assistant Willie Collum were convinced by Watkins’ appeals but it looked a risky challenge.

Celtic had left-back Greg Taylor back from a calf injury while Israel international Liel Abada was still absent after it was decided he was not in the right frame of mind to play following talks with manager Brendan Rodgers.

The game started amid a vocal tribute to the Palestinian people from the Celtic support, some of whom held up banners stating “30,000+ dead, 12,000+ children, end the genocide, end Zionism”.

On the park, Watkins saw a header saved from an early chance.

Adam Idah was showing some good touches up front for Celtic and one flick paved the way for Callum McGregor to play in Luis Palma. The winger had options but chose to cut inside and goalkeeper Will Dennis came out to block his shot.

The breakthrough came in the 32nd minute when Anthony Ralston ended a spell of tight passing as he noticed Furuhashi peeling off Joe Wright to the back post. The right-back floated a perfect ball for the the Japanese striker to loop the ball home.

Killie responded well and twice threatened following Danny Armstrong crosses. Hart stopped Donnelly’s close-ranger header and then Watkins went down clutching his ankle after Welsh’s sliding penalty-box challenge.

Referee John Beaton waved play on and the game continued after a short delay following the next stoppage.

Celtic had chances to ease the tension. McGregor shot over and Matt O’Riley was denied twice by Dennis and once by Corrie Ndaba’s goalline clearance.

Taylor was replaced by Bernabei on the hour mark in what looked a pre-planned move.

Killie sensed there was something to take from the game with Armstrong at the centre of much of their attacking play.

Donnelly met the winger’s inswinging free-kick and powered a header which Hart pushed over. Armstrong then had a chance of his own but mis-kicked a shot wide when Ndaba’s cross found him beyond the back post.

Celtic got back on top but substitute Paulo Bernardo shot over from 14 yards after getting the chance to make it a more comfortable final 10 minutes.

The home crowd grew audibly more anxious and Watson missed from close range before getting space at the back post to head into the bottom corner.

Celtic threw men forward but it was the visitors who came closer to a last-gasp winner when Murray broke and fired a low shot which Hart got down to save.

Stuart Findlay believes an increasingly rounded Kilmarnock side will go into the cinch Premiership game against St Mirren on Wednesday night with growing confidence.

The 2-1 win over St Johnstone on Saturday thanks to first-half goals from 18-year-old midfielder David Watson and 33-year-old striker Marley Watkins – Saints substitute Nicky Clarke pulled a goal back in the second half – took Derek McInnes’s side into fourth place in the table, a point above the Buddies.

Killie are unbeaten in four matches and although their away league form this season has not been great – one win in nine – Findlay noted the side’s different qualities and the encouraging results so far.

The 28-year-old defender, on loan from Oxford, said:  “We’ve won big games this season and that stands us in good stead.

“However, it’s not about winning important matches – it’s about winning consistently.

“Obviously, we haven’t won every away game but we’ve won at Aberdeen and we haven’t been beaten in three of the others but that’s where the consistency comes in.

“We know that, on our day, we can take anyone in the league. We’ve shown that by beating Celtic twice and beating Rangers. We also gave Hearts a really tough game at Tynecastle and they’re the top three teams in the Premiership.

“So we don’t need to fear any opponent when we’re on our game. Our displays have mostly been good this season, although in certain games we’ve had to show different characteristics.

“For example, in the second half of the most recent win over Celtic it was all about our high-tempo press. We nullified them and then ran over the top of them.

“In the first half against St Johnstone on Saturday we showed our attacking prowess, which we don’t really get enough credit for.

“Then, when they came back into the game after the break we showed a real grittiness to hold on to the three points.

“You need different qualities in different games and if you’re going to have a successful season then you need all of those things put together for the team to click.”

Findlay held back from speaking directly about finishing high enough for a European spot.

The former Philadelphia Union player said: “It’s too early to look at what you want to do with this season. The manager has said we should be a top-six team and, if you are there, you’re in touch with the European places.

“This isn’t me saying that we’re not looking towards qualifying for it but the big thing for us has been to establish ourselves in the top half of the division which we’ve done so far.

“That’s the only way we can look at it but if things keep going our way and it starts to point in that direction we can review that towards the end of the season.”

Pressure continued to mount on Aberdeen boss Barry Robson as his side suffered a late 1-0 home defeat to Kilmarnock in the cinch Premiership.

Midfielder David Watson curled home the only goal of the match in the second minute of stoppage time as Derek McInnes’ side got one over his former employers for the second time this term.

Defeat saw the Dons’ winless league run stretch to four matches and left them just three points clear of bottom side Livingston.

On a bitterly cold Pittodrie night, the Dons showed three changes from their weekend defeat to Hibernian, with Angus MacDonald, Jonny Hayes and Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes coming into the side. Kilmarnock stuck with the same team that were beaten by Hearts.

The game took a while to get warmed up and it was beyond the 15-minute mark when Daniel Armstrong’s through ball sent Marley Watkins clear of the Dons defence, only for the returning MacDonald to make up the ground to make a timely tackle.

The home side’s first chance fell to Duk, who perhaps could have done better with his close-range diving header from Jamie McGrath’s cross.

At the other end, a deflected Armstrong shot gave the same man the opportunity to swing in a corner which was met powerfully by the head of Liam Donnelly and Kelle Roos in the Dons goal produced a fine save to push the effort over the crossbar.

With the play going from end to end, Nicky Devlin will have been disappointed not to have connected with a tempting low Graeme Shinnie cross, while two minutes later Duk’s smart turn and cross saw Bojan Miovski fire wide.

The Dons had the ball in the net after 39 minutes, but VAR confirmed Miovski had edged offside before he headed home Leighton Clarkson’s free-kick.

If anything the second half would prove to be even more scrappy, though Robson’s men forced some good spells of pressure without ever really troubling Will Dennis in the Killie goal.

Stefan Gartenmann was being allowed room on the right to provide an overload, and he delivered a 56th-minute cross which McGrath would have hoped to do better with.

A few minutes later came a scramble in the area with blue and white striped shirts seemingly coming from everywhere to block shots from Miovski and McGrath.

Killie lost both Brad Lyons and Donnelly to injury and the resultant changes forced a change of formation with Liam Polworth and Matty Kennedy coming off the bench.

They were duly punished as Watson seized on a loose ball 20 yards out to curl a superb strike beyond a helpless Roos.

Celtic bounced back from their Champions League disappointment by defeating Kilmarnock 3-1 at home in the cinch Premiership.

Brendan Rodgers’ men looked eager to atone for their midweek loss to Lazio and were two goals ahead at half-time through Reo Hatate and Luis Palma.

David Watson got one back for Kilmarnock midway through the second period before Greg Taylor added a third to send Celtic seven points clear at the top of the table after a fifth consecutive league win.

Rodgers made two changes from the Lazio match. In came Cameron-Carter Vickers and Palma, with Nathaniel Phillips and Hyun-jun Yang starting on the bench.

Kilmarnock also made two changes from their draw with St Mirren. There were starting places for Robbie Deas and Watson who replaced Innes Cameron and the injured Kyle Magennis.

Celtic started on top and had the ball in the net within five minutes but Kyogo Furuhashi had strayed into an offside position before finishing well.

Kilmarnock’s response was a curling effort from Danny Armstrong that arced beyond the far post before former Killie defender Taylor came close with a half-volley.

Celtic moved in front after 22 minutes after great play from Hatate. The Japanese fastened on to a quick free-kick from Callum McGregor, burst past Watson before finishing low in the corner.

Hatate almost came close to doubling his tally with an acrobatic volley that was well saved before Palma stretched Celtic’s lead after 33 minutes.

The winger attempted a pass to Hatate only for the ball to rebound back to the Honduran who took advantage to smash in an unstoppable shot.

Celtic started the second half again on the offensive and Hatate’s run and shot was deflected narrowly wide of goal by Kilmarnock defender Lewis Mayo.

Hatate then thought he had won a penalty after he and Watson tangled at the edge of the Kilmarnock box. Before it could be taken, however, the VAR, David Dickinson, asked referee Matthew MacDermid to have a second look and the decision was overturned.

Hatate was involved in most of Celtic’s promising attacks and only an alert save from William Dennis prevented him from adding a third goal.

Kilmarnock grabbed an unlikely lifeline after 72 minutes. Vassell and Alistair Johnston clashed as they chased down a long ball but play was allowed to go on and Liam Polworth teed up Watson who finished well.

The visitors passed up a good chance to draw level when Stuart Findlay nodded wide from a free-kick and that proved costly when Taylor tucked in Celtic’s third after Daizen Maeda had flicked on Matt O’Riley’s corner.

Maeda was then denied by Dennis after running the length of the pitch, with James Forrest unable to convert the rebound.

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes praised David Watson for the way he has handled being thrown into the club’s relegation battle after handing the 18-year-old a new contract.

The midfielder has signed a two-year extension which ties the Ayrshire teenager to Rugby Park until the summer of 2025.

After enjoying two League Cup outings at the start of the campaign, Watson made his cinch Premiership debut at Ibrox in March and has gone on to start each of the last six matches.

Recent figures showed only 18 players eligible for Scotland Under-21s had started a Premiership game this season but McInnes is happy to plunge his young midfielder into the heat of the battle.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s visit of Livingston, McInnes said: “It’s always important a club tries to identify early on the better youngsters and tries to get them signed up.

“For a lot of clubs including ourselves getting as many younger ones through and into the team is clearly vitally important.

“We have lost a couple that we didn’t really want to lose in my short time here and there’s one or two more we would like to extend.

“But David has done very well in the first team, it’s not fazed him and he has handled everything that has been asked of him.

“He is always a boy we were drawn to when we first came in, the way he trains, the way he plays the game, and a lot of credit has to go to the development of the younger coaches here.

“It’s a reward for his performances and how he goes about his business. It gives encouragement to everyone in the academy what can be done, regardless of your age, if you are good enough you will get into the team.

“Sometimes youngsters can go in and play with abandonment. You want the boys to play the game anyway rather than the situation.

“Everyone likes to see a younger one coming through, particularly supporters, but David is there on merit.”

Killie play three of their last four league games at Rugby Park and McInnes has challenged his side to make home advantage count.

“You see from Saturday, the three teams at home (in the bottom six) won the game,” he said.

“Our home form has helped keep us in the fight – our away from would get us relegated, our home form would get us in the top six.

“I do feel with three home games coming up, it’s important we win the first one and that dose of confidence would help no end.”

Left-back Ben Chrisene’s season is over because of a hamstring injury while Kyle Vassell remains a doubt because of a similar problem.

“We resisted the chance to play him last week,” McInnes said of the striker.

“He has progressed but again it’s a similar conversation with Kyle and the physios.

“I need certainty that he is going to be OK because it’s that whole risk and reward thing. It’s important we have him fully fit rather than half fit, because if he is half fit you run the risk of extending the injury.

“Hopefully he is leading the line for us but if it takes another game then so be it.”

Highly-regarded Kilmarnock teenager David Watson has committed his future to his boyhood club by signing a two-year contract extension until June 2025.

The 18-year-old midfielder has been part of Killie’s academy for more than a decade and has broken into the first team this term.

After enjoying two League Cup outings at the start of the campaign, Watson made his Premiership debut in March and has gone on to start each of the last six matches in Derek McInnes’ engine room.

“Reaching the first team had been the goal since I joined the club as a seven-year-old, but I feel like my journey here is only just getting started,” he told the Killie website after signing his new deal.

“There are so many factors that make Kilmarnock the right place for the next stage of my career.

“The manager has given me so much belief about what we can achieve over the next two years and I’m excited about the future that lies ahead.”