Dumbarton Manager Stevie Aitken praised his side for matching Premiership club Kilmarnock despite ending up on the wrong side of a 4-2 defeat.

Sons lead twice through Bobby and Craig Barr but last season's top goalscorer from the Premiership was the difference as Kris Boyd fired in a second half hat-trick after being introduced as a substitute.

But Aitken was pleased that Dumbarton gave a better account of themselves than they did this time last season, where the Rugby Park side ran out 3-0 winners. He said: "We gave a good account of ourselves and asked them a couple of questions. Then they bring on the countries top goalscorer who has done it for years and we gave him opportunities to score, which he did.

"Credit to the players who kept going and asked them plenty of questions.

"If we weren't a bit naive in terms of defending then we'd be looking a wee bit better but credit to Kilmarnock and credit to Kris Boyd for getting the goals.

"Even in the first 40 minutes they didn't put much pressure on the goal. Then we obviously we got the goal which was something to hang on too.

"I'm not going to say that we don't expect a Premier League club to come here and not dominate the game. They dominated possession without really hurting us too much."

Despite the promising display, Aitken was still disappointed with the fact that his side twice couldn't hold on to the lead.

But the Sons Gaffer admits that his side will not be playing teams of the standard of Kilmarnock every week. He said: "Twice we switched off after scoring but it was the way we lost the goals, especially the header that we're frustrated about.

"If you give Kris Boyd a chance in the box he'll take it.

"It's a Premier League club and we've got a new team so considering that, we gave a good account of ourselves. We're not going to come up against Kilmarnock every week.

"We didn't hurt them as much as we wanted too but we did for spells. The only thing disappointing thing for me is the way we lost the goals."