ANGELO Alessio insisted last night that his players had proved with their performance against Rangers that media stories of a player mutiny at Rugby Park are wide of the mark.

While the Killie boss bemoaned the poor marking at corner kicks which gave Rangers the goals which proved Kilmarnock’s undoing yesterday, his players didn’t appear to be the demoralised bunch they were widely painted as in the wake of the Europa League embarrassment against Connah’s Quay Nomads.

“I’ve read that the players are unhappy but that’s not true and they showed it with a good performance today,” said Alessio. “I’m sure of my team and my players. These players have a good attitude and mentality, which they showed in every game last season. We still have to improve but I’m happy with my team.”

Mind you, there was no hiding the Italian’s disappointment having been deprived an opening-day point by Connor Goldson’s late header.

“It was a great shame at the end of the game,” the Italian added “We deserved a better result because we played very well in the second half.

“I asked the team to press more than they did in the first half but it’s still important to analyse the defeat as we lost two goals from two corners and we can’t afford that.”

Goldson’s injury time winner meant that Stephen O’Donnell 83rd minute equaliser ultimately counted for nothing but the Scotland full back said that the Ayrshire side can look forward to the season with fresh optimism after a display which was every bit as competitive as the club’s jousts with the Ibrox side last season. He hit out at media pundits who claimed that Killie could even be relegated.

“I know they broke us down with two set pieces and I know ours was as well,” said O’Donnell. “But I don’t think they had many other opportunities in open play apart from a couple of counters when we were pushing for it. There is a hell of a lot to build on for us.

“Is pride restored?” said O’Donnell. “Well, we got beat so I don’t know about that, but I think we can allow ourselves a bit of optimism.

“We are getting tipped by pundits to get relegated - which is massively disrespectful to all the players on that park, regardless of who many changes there have been in the squad.

“We finished third last season and I know Steve Clarke had a massive impact on that but so did the players. From top to the bottom as a club we have been hurting because of that result against Connah’s Quay so there are certainly lots of positives and something to build on for the rest of the games.”

O’Donnell is determined that any teething problems with the new manager should be kept in-house. “These are things that we as players need to keep from the outside,” he said. “Everyone was telling us Steve Clarke was leaving every second week. He comes in and works hard, works us well. We need to make sure we deliver what he wants on a Saturday. Today, we certainly looked more positive, in the second half especially. And in the first half we were a lot more rigid.”

Meanwhile, Kilmarnock said last night that they were investigation claims of over-crowding in the Chadwick Stand populated by the Rangers fans yesterday, after a turnstile issue meant hundreds of supporters missed the kick-off. Also included in the wide-ranging probe will be the pitch invasion by Rangers fans at the winning goal, which is thought to have caused damage to a disabled section of the stand.