Kilmarnock were left frustrated by Motherwell as they were held to a goalless draw at Rugby Park in the William Hill Premiership.

It was far from a classic but the Ayrshire side deserved all three points as they dominated their opponents.

Kilmarnock had 16 shots, 14 corners and a goal ruled out – correctly – but they could not find a way past a resolute Motherwell defence.

Derek McInnes’ men could have entered the top six with a victory but remained ninth with Motherwell holding on for a point to consolidate their place in fifth.

Kilmarnock spurned a gilt-edged opportunity to open the scoring after just three minutes when Marley Watkins miscued from 10 yards from Fraser Murray’s clever cut-back.

The hosts continued their bright start and Corrie Ndaba’s drilled cross was almost skewed into his own net by Liam Gordon.

From the resulting corner, Aston Oxborough produced a remarkable reflex save to claw away Joe Wright’s goalbound effort before Ewan Wilson hooked the ball off the line.

After weathering an early storm, Motherwell grew into the game and Tony Watt forced Robby McCrorie into a comfortable low save in the 24th minute after good work from Tawanda Maswanhise.

Killie thought they had broken the deadlock just three minutes later when Brad Lyons stabbed home after an excellent run from Murray but it was ruled offside after a VAR review.

There was more frustration for Kilmarnock minutes later when referee Don Robertson waved away their penalty appeals for handball against Kofi Balmer and the VAR officials agreed.

Kilmarnock had more than 70 per cent possession in the first half and they came agonisingly close to eventually getting the goal their performance deserved on the stroke of half-time when Lyons’ header rebounded off the bar.

It was an uneventful start to the second half but Killie went close again after 54 minutes when Wright flashed a header wide from a corner before McCrorie again denied Motherwell striker Watt’s low effort.

There was a distinct lack of quality from either side throughout the game but the second half was especially abject with Motherwell clearly missing the guile of their talisman Lennon Miller.

Kilmarnock continued to push for the opener as the second half progressed and Oxborough made another good save to deny Watkins from close range after 75 minutes.

Motherwell introduced new signing Kai Andrews for the latter stages and he looked to burst into the box in the 85th minute with the ball invitingly falling to Watt but he dragged his shot well wide.

And just minutes later, another substitute wasted a chance to become the hero when Bruce Anderson fired wide on the turn inside the box before Killie almost won it in stoppage time.

Bobby Wales’ excellent cut-back found Jack Burroughs eight yards out with the goal gaping but Dan Casey made an outstanding block to earn his side a hard-fought point.