The past is a good pointer for Thomas

FOR Rangers, the warning from Kilmarnock is clear. With Alex Dyer now at the helm in the wake of the sacking of Angelo Alessio, the hope is that the Ibrox club’s bogeymen are back.

Under Steve Clarke, the team from Rugby Park proved a regular thorn in the side of the Glasgow giant.

Of their last five trips up the M77 to Govan on league duty, Killie won once, drew three times and lost the other. At home, they won both Premiership encounters last season 2-1.

And with the core of that team still together, Dom Thomas is hoping Kilmarnock can revert to giant-killing ways of old against Rangers this afternoon.

‘It’s always hard going to Ibrox but we have done well there in the past,’ said the midfielder.

‘For a long time, we were their bogey team and the boys know it. A lot of the team is the same, so we know what to do.

‘We will take confidence from those results in the past and, hopefully, do a job and get something from the game.

‘We will go there, look to frustrate them and hopefully we can stick to our game plan and steal something from the game.’

In the final match of last season, Dyer was unofficially in charge against Rangers as Clarke served a suspension.

Eamonn Brophy’s late penalty in a 2-1 win clinched third place for Killie; the club’s highest finish in the league since 1966.

Thomas is now backing Dyer to carve out a similar shock in Govan now he is back in situ as interim boss.

‘Alex was in the dugout that day against Rangers, as well,’ he said. ‘He is a really good coach and he is well respected by the players.

‘He did a lot of the tactics and set-pieces under Steve Clarke, so it is business as usual.

‘But this is not the kind of game where you need the manager to come out and give a big speech to the players.

‘It’s more tactical when you go to places like Ibrox. You know what to expect when you go to

Rangers. They will have the majority of the ball and you need to keep your shape.

‘Alex knows what to expect from us and we know what to expect from him. Our jobs are still the same and all the boys know what they are doing.

‘But results like that 2-1 win over Rangers on the final day of last season will be on our minds going in to the game.

‘There’s no reason for us to go there not expecting a win or a draw.

‘Of course, Rangers are in good form and they had a good 3-0 win the other night at Hibs. But you are only as good as your last game.’

If Kilmarnock are to spring a surprise at Ibrox this afternoon, they will need to rediscover their shooting boots.

The team has not scored in their last four games during a miserable run of one win in nine.

Their profligacy in front of goal was typified by Brophy blazing over the bar in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Motherwell when it looked easier to score.

But Thomas has backed the Scotland international to get over that miss at Ibrox.

‘We need to start taking chances,’ he admitted.

‘We had a few chances on Saturday but the Motherwell keeper, Mark Gillespie, made a few saves and I also felt we lacked the rub of the green.

‘Nine times out of ten, Brophy would put that chance on Saturday in the back of the net. He does it in training every day.

‘It was just one of those things — it went over the bar, but as a striker he will miss more than he scores.

‘That’s football. He’ll go again on Boxing Day and hopefully put one in the back of the net.

‘As a team it all comes down to putting the ball in the back of the net. If you don’t score goals you are going to be in trouble.

‘But we do have goals in the team all over the park. We’ve got not just Brophy, but Chris Burke and Rory McKenzie too. We know we can score goals. Things are going against us right now but in football that can all change very quickly.’