KILMARNOCK boss Jim Jefferies can only hope the New Year bells act as wake-up call to his players after yet another Jekyll and Hyde performance ushered out 2007.

Killie crashed 3-1 at Inverness to round off what has been overall a miserable year, and once again poor defending was their downfall.

Colin Nish's penalty was too little too late to give any festive cheer, and Jefferies is at a loss to understand why his men can blow so hot and cold after winning in style against HIbs on Boxing Day.

He said: "It was the same team and the same formation as we had against Hibs, which was probably our best performance of the season when we showed great will and tenacity.

"We should have been on a high going into the game at Inverness, buy they didn't apply themselves in the manner they should have. That's what cost them. Standards slipped."

It was a very different story at Falkirk where boss John Hughes watched his men fight back from a goal down to defeat Hearts 2-1 with goals from Carl Finnigan and Michael Higdon.

The Bairns now face Killie on Wednesday, and Finnigan is confident they can continue to claw their way up the table to what they hope will be a top six spot.

He said: "Killie have been a bit of a bogey team for us. But with the run we are now on we are not scared of anyone.

"We believe we can beat anyone. That is not being unrealistic. When we play, we can do really well. "

Hearts, by contrast, are now in real turmoil and have lost five league games in a row.