SPL LATEST:
Kilmarnock 0-0 Rangers
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MY SPORT: DEBATE
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By David Sharp
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1441: Hamill's cross is clawed away by McGregor.
1440: Eight minutes to go until half-time and the pace has not abated. It's been a whirlwind of a game.
1438: Mendes prods a dinky ball through to Novo who birls on the spot and fires a great shot past Combe but it comes back off the post and falls into the grateful Killie keeper's arms.
1436: Boyd nearly uproots the goalposts with a howitzer of a strike which crashes back off the underside of the bar.
1434: Wow! That was dramatic. Perhaps a little justice has been done there since it didn't look like much of a penalty to me. Boyd went down like a sack of tatties.
1431: Boyd steps up to take the spot-kick and thunders the ball straight down the middle but Combe somehow manages to direct it over the bar. What a save! I think it struck the Killie keeper's knee and spun high over the crossbar.
1430: Penalty! Grant Murray fells Kris Boyd from behind. Was that a penalty? Perhaps more than a tad soft. Ref Eddie Smith doesn't think so.
1428: It's like a schoolboy match. Everyone is chasing the ball around like a flock of heedless chickens. Neither team has settled into any kind of rhythm or groove. The wind has certainly not helped matters.
1424: Fernandez clashes with Bougherra. The Spaniard has a boxer's cut just below his eye and leaves the pitch for treatment. He's getting stitches in the wound. It's not for the faint-hearted out there today.
1422: It's getting a little tousy out there. A few tempers at breaking point. There's a real edge to the game. Killie have upset Rangers applecart with their determined start to this game.
1420: Papac gets a rather harsh booking for accidentally booting Frazer Wright in the midriff. It looks like a sore one but Papac didn't see the Killie player coming. He had both eyes on an up-and-under high ball bobbing about in the breeze.
1418: Fernandez kills the ball stone dead on the edge of the Rangers box and slides it sideways to Willie Gibson but he slashes his shot wide. That was Killie's best chance yet.
1417: "Good to see Rangers finding a use for their 'European nights' third kit." QatarBhoy on My Sport Join the debate
Oooh cheeky!
1413: Kenny Miller's curling cross foxes Allan Combe as it gets buffeted in the swirling wind. But the Killie keeper leaps high and snatches the ball at the second attempt. Testing conditions for goalkeepers today.
1411: After a breathless start the game has started to settle down. But the ball still seems to be constantly in play. Pretty evenly matched at the moment too.
1409: "The game has yet to calm down. It's 100 miles an hour.
BBC Radio Scotland pundit Craig Paterson
1407: What a chance for Rangers to open the scoring. Lovely floated free-kick from Kevin Thomson. Bougherra rises above the Killie defence but the angle is too tight and his header drifts wide. In fact, his team-mate Broadfoot maybe got the last touch on that. Whatever, it was a golden opportunity wasted.
1406: Killie have made a vibrant start to the game. They're roaring about like a human bush fire.
1405: Donovan Simmonds makes his first start for the home side today. He has an electrifying turn of pace which could cause old man Davie Weir some problems.
1404: And we're off!
1403: Rangers are sporting a peculiar red away kit today. They look like Crystal Palace in the 1980s.
1401: There's a minutes silence at Rugby Park for Rememberance Sunday.
1400: Both teams are on the pitch. The rain is teeming down. The surface will be as slick as a linoleum kitchen floor lathered in Fairy Liquid.
1358: BBC Radio Scotland pundit Billy Dodds is plumping for 2-1 to Rangers today. How do you reckon it will pan out at Rugby Park? My Sport and via text on 80295
1355: "RE 1334: Kris Boyd has scored 11 goals in 10 games against Kilmarnock, bet you didn't know that." KrisBoydIsLegend on My Sport Join the debate
I didn't know that! That's an amazing stat.
1350: Still no place for Barry Ferguson. Mind you, Rangers midfield is so strong. Who would you drop? Thomson, Mendes and Davis have all been excellent so far this season.
1347: As I said below, Walter Smith names an unchanged side from the one who drew with Dundee United in midweek. That means skipper Barry Ferguson has to settle for a place on the bench yet again and continues his wait to make his first start of the season following ankle surgery in the summer.
Kilmarnock make three changes from the side who lost to Aberdeen. Frazer Wright returns from injury and starts along with Donovan Simmonds and Willie Gibson. Manuel Pascali misses out through suspension while Conor Sammon is dropped to the bench and David Lilley is completely absent from the squad.
1344: "If Kilmarnock play against Rangers like they did in the last two games against Celtic, then Rangers will have a pretty easy afternoon." Hail__Hail on My Sport Join the debate
1342: "I hope the defending is of a much higher standard than it was on Tuesday. Losing three goals is bad enough but at home it's ridiculous." KrisBoydIsLegend on My Sport Join the debate
Too right KrisBoydIsLegend. Rangers were pretty sloppy at the back in the 3-3 midweek draw with Dundee United. And Allan McGregor will have to cut out the gaffes if he wants to avoid Walter Smith's ire. There have been a few uncharacteristic howlers this season from the normally rock-steady Rangers keeper. Remember Smith dropped him earlier on this season with Neil Alexander coming in. McGregor will have to watch his back.
1337: Rangers have an incredible record at Rugby Park. They haven't lost there since May 1994.
1336: Here are the teams from Rugby Park:
Kilmarnock: Combe, Fowler, Murray, Wright, Skelton, Gibson, Hamill, Bryson, Taouil, Simmonds, Fernandez. Subs: Harpur, Hay, Corrigan, Clancy, Flannigan, Sammon, Cox.
Rangers: McGregor, Broadfoot, Papac, Weir, Bougherra, Thomson, Mendes, Novo, Davis, Boyd, Miller. Subs: Alexander, Ferguson,Beasley, Whittaker, Lafferty, Niguez, Loy.
1334: Can Gers hotshot Kris Boyd continue to prove his critics wrong and bang in a few goals against his former club today? My Sport and via text on 80295
1332: "Rangers got what they bought with Kris Boyd - an out and out goalscorer."
BBC Radio Scotland pundit Craig Paterson
1331: Early team news from Rugby Park: No tinkering from Walter Smith today; Rangers are unchanged for the third game in a row.
1330: Afternoon all! It's chucking it down all over the west coast of Scotland. Torrential rain. And even though we're just past lunchtime it's almost dark already.
Indeed it's a stereotypical dour, dreich Scottish winter's day (surprise surprise!). But let's hope that doesn't spoil what should be a corker of a game at Rugby Park where Killie take on Rangers.
As always, I want to hear your views on the action using My Sport and via text on 80295
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