In truth, the frozen conditions were not conducive to flowing football on a bitterly cold day that saw several Rangers players sporting the interesting combination of short sleeves with gloves.
As players from both teams struggled to control the ball on a slippery pitch, basic errors contributed to the game’s early chances.
Rangers threatened first, Dragan Mladenovic seizing onto Peter Leven’s short back pass to thread a pass through to Hamed Namouchi.
As the midfielder steadied himself for a shot on goal, Freddie Dindeleux thundered in to clear the danger although the assistant’s flag made the attack void in any case.
Perhaps taking the Christmas spirit too literally, Marvin Andrews then gifted a pass straight to Kris Boyd but – perhaps surprised by Andrews’ generosity – he failed to pick out Steven Naismith with the through ball. The giant Trinidadian no doubt thanked God for the let-off.
As this torpid affair threatened to descend into farce, Rangers went in front with a rare moment of class.
Alan Hutton – starting in place of Zurab Khizanishvili – raced down the touchline and sent over a tempting cross that was misjudged by Gordon Greer.
Arveladze was the grateful beneficiary of yet another poor piece of defending and the Georgian deftly controlled Hutton’s pass on his chest before calmly thudding a fierce shot beyond Graeme Smith.
Restored to his favoured striking role in place of the suspended Nacho Novo, it was the Georgian’s first goal since his match-winning effort against Celtic in the CIS Cup quarter-final last month.
He had a far easier chance to double his tally minutes before the break but mis-controlled Gregory Vignal’s pass. It was symptomatic of the game as a whole.
Killie, a goal down and struggling in the lower reaches of the table, at least showed they had the heart for the battle albeit not always through legitimate methods.
Naismith showed his temper was as short as his stature as he thumped into Fernando Ricksen near the Rangers corner flag before Colin Nish barged into Stefan Klos as the goalkeeper came for another wasted cross.
Klos, inactive for the bulk of the first half, was probably grateful just to finally be involved in the match.
The keeper, however, should have been called into action after 31 minutes when Danny Invincible sped clear of the Rangers defence but chose to ignore Nish who was standing unmarked on the far side of the penalty box, waving his arms furiously as if trying to signal to a passing plane.
Rangers had two further chances to extend their lead before the break, Ricksen’s tame shot cleared off the line by the impressive Dindeleux before Arveladze’s carelessness let Kilmarnock off the hook once more.
Perhaps the only people inside Rugby Park not grateful to hear the half-time whistle were the Killie cheerleaders who had to troop out to perform their dance routine in the freezing conditions wearing clothes more suited to an afternoon in Africa rather than Ayrshire.
The home side made a change at the break – Gary Wales for Gary McDonald – but the move failed to redirect the direction of play as Rangers twice threatened within 10 minutes of the restart.
Breaking from a Kilmarnock corner, Dado Prso and Arveladze – not the quickest of strike partnerships – worked a sweet 1-2 and the Croatian tried his luck from distance that Smith clawed away for a corner.
Alex Rae was next to threaten, fastening on to Mladenovic’s short pass before thundering in a fierce drive that missed the target by a matter of feet.
After a poor performance against Auxerre – by his impeccable standards anyway – Jean-Alain Boumsong was back to his composed best here, setting up and finishing Rangers’ next move with 63 minutes gone.
The Frenchman surged out of defence to pick out Arveladze who in turn crossed for Ricksen.
The Dutchman’s shot was parried by Smith and, when Prso sent over the subsequent loose ball, Simon Ford was there to clear Boumsong’s header off the goal line.
With Kilmarnock reeling on the ropes, you felt a second goal at this stage would seal the victory for Rangers and with that in mind McLeish sent on Steven Thompson for his first appearance since November 10.
It was the home side, however, who should have scored next following another defensive lapse from Rangers.
Vignal was dispossessed by Invincible whose pass sent Boyd scampering free but the striker shot tamely at Klos with the goal at his mercy.
Killie continued to press valiantly for a late equaliser but Gers held on for a vital victory.
KILMARNOCK (4-4-2): 13 Smith; 5 Greer, 18 Ford, 6 Dindeleux, 3 Hay; 15 Nish (Dodds 73), 11 Invincible, 22 Leven, 7 McDonald (Wales 46); 9 Boyd, 33 Naismith (Murray 59)
Subs not used: Samson, Dargo, Johnston, Wolski
Booked: Nish (35), Murray (86)
RANGERS (4-4-2): 1 Klos; 20 Hutton, 4 Boumsong, 5 Andrews, 24 Vignal; 2 Ricksen, 8 A Rae, 14 Mladenovic, 31 Namouchi (Thompson 69); 7 Arveladze, 9 Prso (Burke 79)
Subs not used: G Smith, Ball, Ross, Malcolm, Hughes
Booked: Rae (76)
Man of the Match: Dragan Mladenovic