Pressure continues to mount on Hibernian head coach Paul Heckingbottom as his side slipped to a 2-0 Scottish Premiership defeat at Kilmarnock.

Hibs had by far the better of the first half but a combination of the woodwork and goalkeeper Laurentiu Branescu kept out Stevie Mallan and Daryl Horgan.

Killie took the lead shortly after the break after an error from Ryan Porteous allowed Liam Millar to finish.

Mohamed El Makrini's excellent strike made sure of the points.

The result means Heckingbottom's side are ninth, two points off the bottom and still without a league win since the opening day of the season.

Angelo Alessio now has three wins and a draw in his last four games in league and cup, with Kilmarnock up to sixth.

Hibs still too 'soft'

Picking exactly the right words at exactly the right moment. Top football managers, motivators, politicians (some of them) are masters of the art. When Heckingbottom called his players too "soft and pretty" after the 3-0 humbling at Motherwell, he knew exactly what he was doing - looking for a reaction.

And he got one; the only problem is, it didn't last long enough. Hibs' soft side still lingers despite all their pretty play.

You only have to look at Kilmarnock's first goal. A long and superb pass up field from Stephen O'Donnell started things off. A misjudgement from the returning defender Porteous, who let it go, then added to the confusion. Into the clear frolicked a delighted Millar, with not a soul near him, and his composed finish looked true the second it left his boot.

Up until that point Hibs had appeared, certainly for most of the first half, a side transformed from the one which shipped three at Motherwell a fortnight ago. They handed debuts to Jason Naismith at right-back and Swede Melker Hallberg in a holding midfield role, and for a while they strolled around as if they owned the place.

It was wave after wave of green and white washing over the blue and white Killie rearguard. Colourful if not clinical. Horgan and Mallan both drew fine fingertip saves from Branescu in the home goal, those the best rewards Hibs harvested from all their possession.

We were nearly at half-time before we saw signs of life from Kilmarnock. Rory McKenzie burst forward, his shot was deflected just over by a superbly-timed tackle by Naismith, and from the resultant corner, Dario Del Fabro's header flashed inches wide.

The home fans' wish for the last five minutes of the first half to be reproduced for longer in the second was granted when Millar scored, and from then on there was a different atmosphere in the ground, and a different dynamic to the match.

Especially when a fabulous, flowing move was finished in style by El Makrini with just over 10 minutes left. Again, Hibs' soft side exposed as they gifted Kilmarnock possession in midfield and paid an immediate penalty when the home side strung some lovely passes together to weave a wonderful goal.

Things nearly got a whole lot worse for Hibs when the ever-lively Millar broke free once again but this time his shot was well saved by Ofir Marciano.

The home fans left singing the praises of new boss Alessio, who has now put together three wins and a draw from his last four matches. This after he couldn't buy a win at the start of his tenure. Funny old game, isn't it?

Man of the Match - Liam Millar

The old truism that goals change games was never more in evidence than here at Rugby Park, so Millar gets the accolade for the cool, composed, clinical way he despatched pretty much the first proper chance the home team fashioned.

He was also a constant threat with his pace and trickery as he took ownership of the left flank. He nearly had a second goal, and was only denied by a fine save from Marciano.

Millar's goal settled not just his team-mates but also a home crowd who had grown a little restless as they watched the visitors completely dominate the first 40 minutes. Killie improved after that, took both of their goals very well and could, in the end have won more comfortably.

'We deserved the win' - reaction

Kilmarnock manager Angelo Alessio: "We are happy because we deserved the win. I saw my team play very well in the second half.

"We both had opportunities in the first half but I said to the players to keep going and be more aggressive in the second half and try to counter-attack. I want to thank my staff because every week we work together for this."

Hibernian head coach Paul Heckingbottom: "The disappointing thing is we controlled the game but got beat 2-0 from two shots on target.

"That's not to say we deserved to win the game, you get what you deserve. They are a good defensive side but the goals we conceded were terrible on our part."