Derek McInnes hailed “an almost perfect day” for Kilmarnock after watching them dismantle his former club Aberdeen 4-0 at Rugby Park.
Skipper Kyle Vassell’s first-half goal set Killie on their way and further strikes from David Watson, Innes Cameron and Bruce Anderson after the break saw them record their biggest win of the season.
“I’m delighted with the level of performance, it was almost a perfect day for us,” McInnes said.
“We’ve been looking for this strong home performance, we came into this game feeling pretty good about ourselves.
“When we got the second goal, it allowed us to take a bit of a breath.
“We’ve spent 120 grand putting our team together, we’ve got to do so much right to overcome a strong Aberdeen team with that talent.
“Today we managed to do it and I’m absolutely delighted for the players.”
Vassell prodded home to give Killie a richly-deserved lead in the 18th minute and the only saving grace for the hapless visitors at half-time was that they were only a goal behind.
There would be little signs of a reaction after the break however.
Watson reaped the rewards of an intelligent late burst into the box to double Killie’s advantage just before the hour-mark.
They hosts were relentless and added further misery in the dying embers of the game as substitutes Cameron and Anderson netted to complete a resounding victory that sees Kilmarnock move to within touching distance of the top six.
In recent weeks, the Rugby Park side have shown a more solid side of their defensive game, but goals have remained at a premium.
After seeing three of his strikers getting on the scoresheet and the team scoring four goals for the first time this season, McInnes believes they have turned a corner.
The Killie boss added: “It’s been pointed at us that we don’t score enough goals and not kept enough clean sheets.
“It was the perfect finish for us, a lovely finish from Innes and Bruce then gets his goal.
“Three strikers scored a goal and then young Bobby Wales was outstanding – I’m delighted all round.”
Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin was furious at his team’s application as their winless run was extended to seven matches.
The Dons were second best throughout against a seemingly hungrier Killie side and as a result have lost further ground in the race at the top of the table.
“Our performance was not acceptable in terms of how we competed with Kilmarnock,” Thelin said.
“Hopefully this was the worst performance of the season, you can win games, draw games and lose games – but not the way we did today.
“The effort we made for each other was not good enough.
“Sometimes during a season, you can go on a really bad run. Some games have been hard but at least we’ve been able to compete.
“We have to look ourselves in the mirror and do much, much better in the next game.”
