Rod Wallace grabbed a hat-trick as Rangers opened up a 10-point lead over rivals Celtic with a comfortable win at Kilmarnock.

Wallace struck twice in the final three minutes to complete his treble as Rangers rubbed salted in Killie wounds.

Rangers got off to the best possible start with a goal in the fifth minute from Neil McCann.

The former Hearts winger grabbed his fourth goal in three games with a smart finish from Andrei Kanchelskis' cross.

Kanchelskis was in dazzling form throughout and with a bit of luck he might have had a couple of goals himself.

It took a great save from Gordon Marshall in the 50th minute to deny him a goal.

Rangers completely dominated the first half and created a number of chances but they failed to convert.

After McCann's opener the visitors continued to pile on the pressure and Guivarc'h came close again from another Kanchelskis assist.

Then McCann raced clear of the Killie defence only to be denied by Mark Reilly on the edge of the box.

After 19 minutes Gary Holt had a chance to find McCoist in the box, but Lorenzo Amoruso cleared the danger.

McCoist then tried to find Paul Wright at the back post but the ball ran out of play, as Kilmarnock fought back bravely.

Tony Vidmar missed a great opportunity to put his side two up in 28 minutes when he blasted the ball over the crossbar from eight yards.

Rangers continued to enjoy the bulk of possession and Killie defence was under almost constant pressure.

Rangers continued to press and Gordon Marshall in the home goal had to race off his line to grab the ball after his skipper, Ray Montgomerie, mis-hit a clearance.

Killie's best spell came at the start of the second half and it took a good save from Stefan Klos to prevent Ally McCoist scoring against his old team.

Wallace scored the first of his three goals in 75 minutes after being set up by McCann.

Goal number three came in the 85th minute from substitute Jonatan Johansson and two goals in the final three minutes from Wallace rounded off a perfect night for the Ibrox side.

Teams:

Kilmarnock: Marshall, Hamilton (Mitchell 73), Montgomerie, McGowne, Baker, Holt, Reilly, Durrant, Burke,McCoist (Roberts 83), Wright.

Subs Not Used: Mahood, Lauchlan, Strain.

Rangers: Klos, Porrini (Nicholson 83), Amoruso, Vidmar, Kanchelskis, Ferguson, Van Bronckhorst, Albertz (Hendry 70), McCann, Guivarc'h (Johansson 80), Wallace.

Subs Not Used: Miller, Malcolm.

Goals: McCann 5, Wallace 75, Johansson 85, Wallace 87, 90.

Att: 16,242

Ref: S Dougal (Glasgow).