Gary Locke praised his team for bouncing back from their latest Rugby Park capitulation - but there was further bad news for the Kilmarnock fans following their 4-1 win over Berwick.

Killie got over their second 4-0 home defeat of the season by easing into the third round of the League Cup, but they had to do so without Mark Connolly, who faces about two months on the sidelines following his injury at the weekend.

Kris Boyd opened the scoring with a 15th-minute penalty before Darren Lavery levelled 10 minutes into the second half with a brilliant strike.

But goals from Rory McKenzie, Craig Slater and a 30-yard effort from Kallum Higginbotham saw Killie through in the final 20 minutes.

Locke said: "I'm pleased we got four goals rather than conceded four. We had to respond from the weekend.

"Confidence was a bit low but once we went in front you could see the weight lifted from some of their shoulders and they started to get on the ball and play. That's what they show in training so we are hoping they now take that into games.

"It's been a difficult couple of games but we responded in the right manner."

Connolly went off injured in Saturday's defeat by Ross County and early indications are not good.

"He has a bad knee injury," Locke said. "We are still waiting from the results of the scan but at the moment it doesn't look too great. They are maybe talking six to nine weeks."