Neil Lennon dismissed claims Scott Brown caught Aaron Tshibola with an elbow as he hailed the Celtic skipper for his vintage performance at Rugby Park.
The Parkhead captain had a coming together with the Kilmarnock midfielder in the second half, but the referee waved play on as Celtic ran out 4-0 winners.
Brown returned to the side after he was sent off against Livingston a fortnight ago and opened the scoring as Lennon's men secured a routine victory in Ayrshire.
But the Northern Irishman rubbished the suggestion that the incident was deliberate as he piled praise on Brown for looking like the player 'we know he can be'.
Asked if Brown appeared to catch the Killie man with an 'elbow' by Sky Sports presenter Luke Shanley, Lennon replied: "I didn't think there was anything in it.
"Whereas, at Livingston two weeks ago, it looked a little bit more deliberate.
"But I don't think there was anything in that tonight at all.
"He had a very good game, he looked fresh and played very, very well.
"He looked, again, the player we know he can be."
Brown gave Celtic a 1-0 lead at the break as Odsonne Edouard fired home a brace before Albian Ajeti wrapped up the three points towards the end.
And Lennon says it was the perfect response after a horrible defeat to St Mirren at the weekend.
He added: "I got the reaction I wanted.
“It was the polar opposite of what we produced on Saturday. People were criticising me for jagging the team, but they needed the jag to be honest and we got a great performance and a great result.
“The body language, their attacking play, the concentration was so much better. That is more like us, so we have to build on that from here on in.”
Edouard was at his brilliant best, but could have easily had a few more goals to his name if he was more clinical.
Asked if his couple of strikes will give him some confidence after a below par season, Lennon laughed: "I don't think he is short of confidence.
"He was a little loose of the ball in the first and I thought he could have pulled the trigger with a chance in the second half. It's been a bit symptomatic of the season.
"He's a wonderful player when he is on his game and his second goal is a thing of beauty. He'll be delighted he'll be back among the goals."
