Rory McKenzie: No time to dwell on past with Rangers waiting

Kilmarnock wide player Rory McKenzie feels the importance of their next assignment has made it easier to move on from the departure of Gary Locke.

Locke's resignation as manager was announced by the club on Saturday night, hours after a 1-0 home defeat by Hamilton left the club second bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Lee McCulloch was installed as caretaker boss for the William Hill Scottish Cup fifth-round tie at Ibrox and McKenzie knows they must put Locke's exit behind them or risk being on the receiving end of an in-form Rangers team.

The 22-year-old said: "When the news came out we were gutted and we take our share of the blame for the performances but I've been through it three or four times here at Kilmarnock.

"So it's a surprise but you need to get over it quickly because we have a game on Saturday.

"It's not that difficult to be honest because we have one of the biggest games of the season on Saturday so if we don't get over it quickly we will get punished. We have got over it quickly and had a good week of training."

Some teams belatedly find a result for their outgoing boss but McKenzie said: "We want to win for ourselves and the fans. I feel for Gary, it's not nice to lose your job, but we need to look forward. We can't look back.

"Gary is not here anymore unfortunately and it's about us and the fans."

Locke's departure came a week after another of the desperate results Kilmarnock have suffered this season, a 5-1 loss to bottom side Dundee United.

Other thrashings by Dundee, Ross County, Partick Thistle and Aberdeen added to a sense of foreboding despite Killie being competitive in the bid to avoid a play-off.

And McKenzie admits the Scottish Cup is ideal respite from the relegation battle.

"It's a welcome break from the league," he said. "I think we felt like that against St Johnstone in the last round of the cup.

"You felt as if the pressure was off a bit because obviously things haven't been going great in the league.

"You didn't have to worry about Dundee United or anyone else, so it was a nice break from the league. These are the sort of games you want to play in."

McKenzie is also keen to atone for last season's Scottish Cup, when Killie went down 3-0 at Ibrox in the fourth round.

"That was probably one of the worst days I have had in football," he said.

"We never turned up at all, so we must do better this time. Nothing went right, it was just one of those days.

"Obviously it's a new (Rangers) team and we have all watched them enough on the TV to know how good a team they are.

"But then again we watched St Johnstone go there and win so if you go there with a game plan then they can be beaten."