Hamilton manager Brian Rice praised his players for their response to last weekend's opening-day defeat, in particular teenage midfielder Lewis Smith, who scored one and created one.

"The effort the lads put in was sensational," he said. "We were down to 10 men for 35 minutes, we were hanging on, but we put bodies on the line and showed the old Hamilton spirit.

"Let's not forget, we were playing the team that finished third last season and we kept a clean sheet. Kilmarnock are a good team and I'm delighted with my lads today.

"Lewis has all the talent in the world. I need to try to find a place for him in the team at the moment, every day in training he's exceptional and he works really hard. I just said to him, 'I'm going to play you and give you the platform to produce'. The goal he scored was outstanding.

"It's only his third or fourth start for the team, but he'll get the platform here to show what he can do and then it's up to him.

"This was a big game for us after last week's performance and the players responded magnificently."