NO WAY THROUGH

Seldom, if ever, has an opposition goalkeeper been as surplus to requirements when facing Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic side as Jamie Macdonald was on Saturday.

“I was useless,” observed the Kilmarnock No 1 before quickly seeking to clarify his less than flattering description of his own contribution, which was effectively limited to a 90th minute save to keep out a free-kick by Olivier Ntcham.

“Well, not useless, but you know what I mean,” added Macdonald. “I wasn’t really used, I wasn’t really called upon. I had a comfortable save from the free-kick at the end which was probably Celtic’s only real shot on target.”

Macdonald had plenty of time to stand back and admire the work of his team-mates as Kilmarnock enjoyed their first victory over Celtic at Rugby Park since 2010, courtesy of the outstanding Youssouf Mulumbu’s goal midway through the second half.

It was the collective effort of Killie which really caught the eye, however, as their tactical discipline summed up the impressive strides they have made since Steve Clarke’s appointment as manager in October.

“That is one of the best defensive performances from a team that I have ever been involved in, especially against a team like Celtic,” said Macdonald. “The boys in front of

0 Youssouf Mulumbu runs to the Kilmarnock fans following his goal against Celtic which secured victory for Kilmarnock.

“That is one of the best defensive performances from a team that I have ever been involved in”

JAMIE MACDONALD me today were outstanding, from the two up front, to the midfield, which I thought we dominated. Celtic had the ball for large periods of the game, but when it got to the 50-50s we won most of them. It was just an outstanding performance from the boys.

“The gaffer had worked on it all week. Our game plan was not to sit too deep, because you can sometimes draw pressure on yourself, but make sure we were tight, compact and didn’t