Manager Neil Lennon "got the reaction I wanted" as his Celtic side eased some of the mounting pressure on him by thrashing managerless Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership.

While their 10-in-a-row hopes are all but over, Celtic delivered their biggest win since September.

A Scott Brown header, a double from Odsonne Edouard and a late goal from Albian Ajeti sealed the points.

"If we play like that it will take a good team to stop us," said Lennon.

It brings Celtic within 20 points of Rangers with a game in hand.

Kilmarnock, under interim manager James Fowler for the first time since Alex Dyer's departure on Saturday, suffered their fourth defeat in a row as they remain ninth in the table.

The Ayrshire club are five points clear of bottom club Hamilton, but have played two games more.

Both sides wanted a reaction. Kilmarnock had won just twice in 11 matches and Dyer paid the price on Saturday. Lennon was still hanging on at Celtic, but one win in six has made his position increasingly unstable.

The start both sides made was encouraging. Celtic enjoyed the bulk of possession, and David Turnbull opened his body up and curled just wide. Yet Kilmarnock repelled most of the pressure, and Chris Burke should maybe have done better when he met a long ball inside the box.

But Celtic's pressure told when captain Brown bulleted a header in from a Turnbull corner and broke the deadlock.

Minutes later and Brown caught Aaron Tshibola with an elbow, though referee Kevin Clancy gave him the benefit of the doubt much to the chagrin of the Killie man.

Celtic continued to enjoy the lion's share of the ball. Callum McGregor broke into the box but Zeno Ibsen Rossi made an outstanding tackle to deny him just as he was about to pull the trigger.

Burke fired over for Killie and Turnbull had a shot saved for Celtic.

Three times in as many minutes Edouard tried to manoeuvre his way through the Kilmarnock defence, but repeatedly ran into trouble. However, he found the back of the net when he squeezed a penalty into the bottom right-hand corner after goalkeeper Colin Doyle was adjudged to have fouled Ajeti.

Kilmarnock thought they had pulled one back when Burke met a ball at the back post and appealed that his header had crossed the line, but goalkeeper Scott Bain just managed to get a foot to it.

That was the correct decision, but soon after Kilmarnock appeared to be on the wrong end of one when Edouard poked in a third after outpacing the defence, yet replays showed he may have strayed offside.

Ajeti made it four with his first goal since September when he held off Rossi and finished from close range.

Kilmarnock had two fine chances to pull one back late on. Rossi's header was saved on the line, and Mitchell Pinnock drove a shot just past the post, but their miserable run continues.

Man of the match - Jonjoe Kenny

What did we learn?

Interim boss Fowler called for his players to show they were a good side and willing to battle for the jersey, and for much of the game they put up a decent fight. But they allowed Celtic too much of the ball while too many players drifted out of the game, and Celtic picked them off with ease in the second half.

Jonjoe Kenny had a decent debut for Celtic, and look assured at right-back with some neat touches. It's a win that, temporarily at least, eases the pressure on manager Lennon.

What did they say?

Kilmarnock interim manager James Fowler: "There were parts of the performance we can be happy with, but if you lose four goals, you have to be honest enough to say defensively we weren't good enough at times.

"Certainly, the second goal isn't a penalty. When you speak to the fourth official and he says the referee and assistant are having a discussion, I think that tells its own story. Usually they know these things instantly. And the third - it looks really tight in terms of offside."

Celtic manager Neil Lennon: "I got the reaction I wanted. It was totally night and day from the performance at the weekend. We should kick on from this. I'm looking for far more consistency in the next few months.

"The league may be beyond us, but we've got a lot of big games to come, we've got a cup competition and we need to finish the season strongly for the supporters. If we play like that, it'll take a good team to stop us now."

What's next?

Kilmarnock travel to St Mirren on Saturday (15:00), while Celtic are at home to Motherwell.