Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies has accused referee Craig Thomson of being influenced by the Easter Road crowd over his decision to award Hibernian a decisive late penalty in their Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash.

Jefferies was left raging at the "soft" award eight minutes from time when Gavin Skelton felled Abdessalam Benjelloun.

The Moroccan dispatched the spot-kick to give Hibs a win they deserved having completely outplayed the Rugby Park side after the break.

Jefferies said: "I thought it was a very soft award. Gavin was raging when he was coming past me, all you could hear was him saying that he never touched him.

"I think Benji (Benjelloun) was very clever in backing into Gavin. All the boys that have come down from the stands said it wasn't a penalty, as did a few Hibs players.

"What is the frustrating thing is that you have a man (Thomson) there who came out after the Old Firm game to say he got it wrong by not awarding a penalty for (David) Weir over (Shaun) Maloney and yet he can give something like that.

"There was an incident where the crowd were shouting for a penalty beforehand and I think it hit someone on the hand but it was never deliberate.

"The crowd were roaring and I think he was under pressure to give it."

Meanwhile, Hibs manager John Hughes praised match-winner Benjelloun for putting his World Cup heartache behind him to seal the victory against Kilmarnock.

Benjelloun was lively throughout the 90 minutes and Hughes was delighted with his contribution as both the striker and compatriot Merouane Zemmama had returned to Easter Road down after Morocco's defeat to Gabon last week left them with no chance of reaching next summer's finals.

Hughes said: "He got his reward today so I am delighted for him.

"I had to watch him a wee bit, I noticed a real disappointment from the two of them for not qualifying for the World Cup, I had to pick them up a bit.

"He is different class, has a great sense of humour and loves playing football; he plays it with a smile on his face."

After a well-contested first half that saw both sides create chances, Hibs took control following the break but failed to covert a handful of opportunities before Benjelloun finally broke the deadlock.

The win strengthens Hibs' grip on third place in the SPL and Hughes insists they were well worth the three points.

He said: "We got there in the end, I think that sums it up. I thought in the second half we did enough to win the football match and you're saying to yourself, 'how will it come?'

"I am pleased for them as I asked for it at half-time and I thought there were one or two really good performances from the players, especially big Sol (Bamba)."