Kheredine Idessane
BBC Scotland at Rugby Park

The Chadwick stand away to my left is absolutely bouncing, full of Rangers fans in full voice.

That's where the atmosphere's coming from as we head towards kick-off as there are big gaps in the other three stands, with the Kilmarnock faithful much more apprehensive-looking than their visitors.

Maybe that's because the aggregate score in the past seven meetings between these two is 22-8 to Rangers, even with Killie winning two of them?

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St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson tells BBC Scotland: "It's a relief, there's no other way to put it. I'll enjoy it for 24 hours and then worry about the next game. We haven't won in a while, so there was a bit of apprehension coming into the game.

"We always say, if you keep clean sheets, then you'll win games. We stayed compact and solid. We know we need to play better than that. There wasn't much between the two teams, but we scored in good moments.

"I wish the win came a bit sooner, but we've now earned the right to enjoy this week. We'll train hard, and we'll go and watch [League Cup final opponents] Celtic a couple of times this week.

"The players have chosen not to wear suits for the final and don't want to go to hotels. The players want it to be as normal as possible, because they don't want any emotion involved in it. We're looking forward to it, we'll enjoy it afterwards if we get a result, but we'll certainly enjoy the build-up."

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Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou tells BBC Scotland: "It's hard not to be happy with the run we have gone through over the past two weeks, with five games, four clean sheets, just conceding once, and a good number of points.

"Far from everything has been perfect, I think we can all admit to that, there have been plenty of mistakes, but we have come through a very hectic period with some big games. We've been able to rotate a lot.

"We've seen players in different positions. That's also been important, mixed up some relations on the pitch, and still we've been able to put a very competitive side on the pitch, and that's very exciting for the future.

“We want to be one of the best attacking teams, if not the best, in the league. And we want to have the same level defensively. It's very difficult to create that in a short period of time.

"We have a goalkeeper who has been absolutely outstanding for a long time now, and especially over the last period of time. You see that again today, the few big moments we gave away to the opposition, he took care of them with top, top actions.

"So many positives to take, and obviously we are still reaching for a higher level because I think there's more in us than what we see right now. We try to build a style and an approach in this club, that we're not afraid of anything, that we play with bravery and confidence in the way we do things.

"We know it's going to be difficult to do what we do against different opposition, and some games have been extremely difficult. Today was at times very difficult.

"But we approach every game like we want to win, and that's why we have formed and built this approach to the game, this style of play, because we want to create something where we have this feeling."

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Let's quickly circle back to today's earlier games and hear from some of the managers...

Kilmarnock manager Stuart Kettlewell tells BBC Scotland: "We have a go at every single game. I can safely say we've gone out to win every game this season.

"There was always an outlook of trying to have freshness and some sort of twist to the team. We want to play in every circumstance and I think that's reflected in the team selection. It's about having as much energy as we can.

"We had a decent performance against Hearts that probably allows you to make changes but some of them are enforced as well [because of injury]. It's not the players' faults but a little bit frustrating for them and myself.

"We feel we've got a bit of versatility about how we can play. We've got three forwards on the pitch and we want them to be active in the game.

"We know Rangers will have good spells in this game and we may have to suffer but we want to try and put pressure on their backline when we can."

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Here are the goals from Rangers' midweek draw with Dundee United.

Danny Rohl's first win as Rangers head coach came against Kilmarnock back in October.

The Ibrox side triumphed 3-1, with Youssef Chermiti rounding off the win with the hosts' third.

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Here's another chance to watch Kilmarnock's midweek draw.

Kilmarnock snatched a point in midweek with Bruce Anderson netting in the 90th minute to deny Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts.

That 1-1 draw was their second in a row after being held by Dundee United last weekend.

That followed a six-match losing run, with their last win coming on 4 October against St Mirren.

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Billy Dodds
Former Rangers striker on BBC Sportsound

Stuart Kettlewell will feel he's got a chance with that line-up he's named, a lot of attacking players.

Rangers can be expansive, pass well and move well but if they can start defending properly, they've got a real chance of three points.

Rangers head coach Danny Rohl tells BBC Scotland: "I think from the last three games, the last three draws, we should have at least two wins.

"Against Dundee [United] we should have won the game. Even against Braga we showed a good performance for 60 minutes. We are not happy with the results but for me it's about finding the balance. Today we have to deliver and we're looking to win this game.

"[James] Tavernier felt a little bit unwell the last two days. He's played a lot of games, started a lot of games. I am happy to have him on the bench because it's important to have experience on the bench. He is ready if we need him.

"I want to have a strong midfield today because I expect some long balls and some fights for the ball.

"I learn something about my players everyday and today is a good opportunity. If we win the game today we're back to within six points and then we'll see what happens tomorrow."

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Rangers make two changes to the side that started Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Dundee United.

Captain James Tavernier, who has been unwell this week, drops to the bench, with Max Aarons taking over at right-back, while Mohamed Diomande replaces Danilo, who joins Tavernier among the substitutes.

Goalkeeper Jack Butland wears the armband for this one.

Midfielder Mikey Moore could return from injury as a substitute.

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Kilmarnock make four changes following their midweek 1-1 draw at Hearts.

In come midfielders Liam Polworth and David Watson and forwards Bruce Anderson and Marcus Dackers.

Out go Tyreece John-Jules, Tom Lowery, suspended captain Brad Lyons and Jack Thomson. Lowery makes the bench.

Robbie Deas assumes skipper duties.

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Kilmarnock: Oluwayemi, Brown, Mayo, Deas, Thompson, Kiltie, Polworth, Watson, Tiffoney, Anderson, Dackers.

Substitutes: Beach, Williams, Stanger, Lowery, Ellis, Schilte-Brown, Coughlin.

Rangers: Butland, Aarons, Djiga, Fernandez, Meghoma, Raskin, Barron, Diomande, Gassama, Miovski, Bajrami.

Substitutes: Kelly, Tavernier, Chermiti, Aasgaard, Cameron, Nsiala, Curtis, Moore, Danilo.

It may be getting late but Saturday's Scottish Premiership fixture card is not yet complete.

Live text and radio coverage of Kilmarnock's home match with Rangers coming up, plus some more reaction from today's afternoon games.

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Okay, I'm off to see if anyone is letting out their garden shed for a week in Boston or Providence next summer.

We'll resume our coverage nearer kick-off time at Rugby Park.

The radio team are still going full steam ahead.

Hibernian head coach David Gray tells BBC Scotland: "Really positive. Everything I asked the players to do, I saw. They were on the front foot, real dominant performance, first half.

"Second half, credit to Falkirk, they had a real go and were more direct at times. We got the third goal at a good time.

"We will play better than we did in the second half, but at the same time they showed resilience, kept a clean sheet and we've given ourselves a good platform to build on.

"I don't like singling players out, but Josh [Mulligan] set the tone. His performance was excellent, with and without the ball. His desire to run forward and play with that intensity, and he deserved the man of the match.

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