Kilmarnock manager Kenny Shiels was thrilled to secure his second victory over Rangers this season, then expressed his sympathy for Ally McCoist.

The Northern Irishman saw his team earn a 1-0 win at Ibrox, the same scoreline as the sides’ last meeting.

Shiels celebrated with his fans at full-time but said he felt sorry for his opposite number after a turbulent week at the Ibrox club.

He said: "I went over to enjoy the moment with the supporters because I wanted to celebrate with them, just for 30 seconds. I was so happy for them, for the players, for the club, for myself.

"Then, when I walked back across, Ally was waiting to shake my hand and, when I gave him eye-contact, I felt guilty because I'd gone from my euphoria of being so happy to meet someone who must be hurting a lot because of what he's had to go through with the Rangers situation.

"I feel really guilty about celebrating but I'm not going to apologise for that because you get a lot of moments when you get disappointment in this sport and I wanted to really enjoy the moment today."

Shiels’ son Dean grabbed the only goal of the game but the 55-year-old felt his whole team deserved praise for their display.

He added: "I felt our players were absolutely fantastic. They were psychologically disadvantaged because, if you put it into perspective, the Rangers supporters were magnificent.

"They came to get behind their team, to show solidarity, and the players responded to that.

"We have to be mindful that it takes two teams to make a football match and all the emphasis this week - which is only natural - was on Rangers, so our players in no uncertain way were told to make sure that somebody would be talking about them after the match because of the performance.

"I think they deserve credit. Kilmarnock were outstanding today."

Rangers won last season's SPL title at Rugby Park, thrashing the Ayrshire side 5-1. And Shiels hopes the double over McCoist's men this term has gone someway to repaying the fans for that result.

He said: "I'm really happy because it's been on my mind since last May and I've been hurting inside and so have the players.

"When you watch Rangers coming to Kilmarnock and, after seven minutes, I see my supporters walking down the steps and leaving the ground...I thought to myself that I'll never be able to pay them back.

"To have them come to our patch and beat us to win the championship was fantastic for Rangers but it was really hard for our supporters to take.

"Now we've done the double over Rangers for the first time ever as an SPL club and hopefully that has gone some way towards paying them back."


IN DETAIL

• Match report: Rangers 0-1 Kilmarnock