He said: "It was a good result against Rangers. Now they are confident.

"We know it will not be easy. But it was going to be a tough game anyway because we know they way they play.

"They are a very organised team, they run a lot, they always give 100 per cent.

"I won once at Ibrox with Hamilton. It is not easy to win there but Rangers are not at the best at this moment so Hamilton's win was a bit surprising but not a lot.

"It is not easy playing against them. We lost against them at their place and we drew here. We know it will be a very tough game."

The Italian moved to Accies in 2016, first as a player before moving into a coaching role at the club.

Donati, a former Celtic midfielder, joined the coaching staff at Kilmarnock under Angelo Alessio last June and stayed as assistant when Alex Dyer took over as boss in December.

He said: "I have to thank Hamilton because they gave me the opportunity to come back to Scotland, which was my plan. I had a good time there.

"Hamilton is an organised club. I worked in the academy and I know the way they work.

"The club want a lot of academy players to play in the first team which is nice to see.

"It is not easy when you play with seniors but every season they get results and stay in the Premiership which means they work well."

Kilmarnock are four points behind Hibernian in seventh place and Donati is targeting a top-six finish.

Defender Niko Hamalainen, on loan from QPR, admits he only recently became aware of the split but is a fan.

The 23-year-old said: "I didn't even know that the league split up until maybe December.

"When I found out about it, I thought that it was actually a good concept.

"You want to be part of the top-six, play the top teams in the league one more time.

"That will boost the team to go out and want to beat Rangers again or potentially beat Celtic and stuff like that."