Peter Lovenkrands opened the scoring and, after Chris Innes had been sent off, Michael Mols and Mikel Arteta extended the lead.

Meldrum did better when he was required to come off his line and get to a through-ball ahead of Lovenkrands.

At the other end, Klos could not prevent a bouncing ball crossing the line for Killie’s first corner as the half-hour mark approached.

Invincibile ended up in the net as players jostled in the box before it was taken but he ball was easily cleared.

Mols took down a Ricksen through-ball into the box neatly but the shot which followed was too high.

Then Ricksen fired a fierce long-range shot over after de Boer had set him up.

In the 35th minute Innes was on his way down the tunnel after yet another tackle from behind on Mols, with his second yellow card of the day being followed by the inevitable red.

De Boer sent a header just past a post as Rangers attempted to make use of their numerical advantage and seconds later Fulton had to concede a corner to stop the ball reaching Ricksen at the back post.

Rangers used it to double the lead when Craig Moore headed on Arteta’s delivery for Mols to fire in on the turn just inside the six-yard box. The ball hit the luckless Meldrum in the face on the way.

A third goal soon followed after Sean Hessey was booked for a penalty box challenge on Ferguson, with the home captain being hurt by the collision with Shields that came with it.

Up stepped Arteta and he made no mistake from the spot.

Khizanishvili was booked for a foul on Paul di Giacomo as shell-shocked Killie tried to rally with both sides down to 10 men while Ferguson received treatment.