Manager Allan Johnston rues Kilmarnock's Scottish Cup defeat

Kilmarnock manager Allan Johnston rued his side's inability to build on a lead in the Scottish Cup defeat by Dundee United.

After going a goal behind, Killie moved in to a 2-1 lead before conceding four goals in the final half-hour.

"Unbelievable," reflected Johnston. "We got ourselves in a great position after scoring a fantastic second goal.

"I feel sorry for the players. They put in so much effort but it looks like they have been hammered."

Johnston felt a save by United goalkeeper Radoslaw Cierzniak proved to be the turning point of the game at Tannadice.

"We have a chance to make it 3-1 to probably put the game out of sight," said the Killie boss.

"The keeper makes a good save, they score the second goal and we shoot ourselves in the foot from there on.

"In reality, it wasn't really a hammering because we played a lot of good stuff. I think we can take a lot of heart from our performance.

"There were some positive parts which we can take in to the rest of the season as we had a very young side out there."