Kilmarnock manager Gary Locke reflected on a classic example of a game of two halves on Wednesday evening which his side ultimately lost by 4-1 against Celtic.

They had coped well in the first half with anything the home side could muster,although at the other end Celtic keeper Craig Gordon was a virtual spectator.

But he had to pick the ball out from the back of his net within five minutes of the restart when a Daryll Westlake shot took a deflection and flew past him.

Locke said: "Possibly that goal angered Celtic.

"I thought that our game plan was working a treat.

"We were quite compact, well organised, and the home fans were starting to get frustrated.

"Then we go a goal up, but it was a good finish that brought them their equaliser although Sammy Clingan felt he had been fouled in the build up to the shot.

"Sometimes you get these decisions, and sometimes you don't, and then all credit to Leigh Griffiths, in particular for their third goal which was another great finish."

Substitute Griffiths had only been on less than 10 minutes when he put Celtic in the lead, before adding a double to complete his hat-trick.

However, the Killie boss was critical of how two of them were conceded, adding : "I felt we should have defended better for the second and fourth goals, but we have to look at the positives - we contained them for long spells and I thought we played reasonably well."

Killie are being gradually dragged into a possible relegation battle on the back of five straight defeats, but Locke remains upbeat on their prospects.

He said: "Our season is not going to hinge on a match against Celtic at Parkhead.

"We have five big games coming up and we've got to make sure we win a few of them."

The post-split fixtures for Killie are St Mirren (away) - April 25, Hamilton (home) - May 2, Motherwell (away) - May 8, Partick Thistle (away) - May 16, and Ross County (home) - May 23.