Jim Jefferies is starting his rebuilding plans for next season and after watching his fringe players be swept aside by Inverness, a few of them have cause to be anxious.

"There were a number of players, out of contract at the end of the season, who had the opportunity to show that they deserve new deals," he said, "but they didn't do themselves much good.

"I knew we were going up to Inverness with the bare bones but I thought it would give me an opportunity to learn a lot.

"There are players in the squad I'm looking at closely, some with clauses in their contracts that if they do not play a set amount of games, the contract could be cancelled. They should be using these games for that reason and to put on a performance for our supporters."

Killie, despite an exciting start, fell into an almost lethargic state as Doug Imrie fired the Highland side ahead with a bullet of a free-kick from the edge of the area.

He played a major part in his side's second as his low ball across goal hit David Lilley, the Killie centre-back, and went into the net.

"The manager spoke to me during the week about my impatience at not having scored a goal yet and told me to relax," Imrie said. "That's the first chance I've had to hit a free-kick so getting that and scoring was pleasing."

Marius Niculae, the Romanian international striker who continues to impress the supporters with his expertise, fired in a well-placed third goal as Jefferies looked on and shook his head that there was not a Kilmarnock defender anywhere near the scorer.