Hearts will face a tough battle to stay in touch with Celtic at the top of the table on Saturday when they travel to Rugby Park.
The home side, despite the loss of top scorer Kris Boyd, are one of the toughest sides in the league to beat and have so far this season given Hearts three very tough examinations.
Hearts have played really well in the league lately though and if they can re-produce anything like that kind of form they must be confident of getting the win they crave. However if it’s a similar performance to the recent Scottish Cup match, they’re going to struggle to take anything from the match!
Vital Quotes:
Drunk guy in the Tynie Arms last week: “Killie? Nae bother son nae bother – fower nuthin’!”
Kilmarnock Team News:
Gordon Greer picked up an injury in the Cup match at Tynecastle and is expected to miss the remainder of this season. Rhian Dodds is also injured and David Lilley doubtful, but Killie welcome back former Hearts captain Gary Locke.
Player to watch: Allan Johnston
The last couple of times I’ve seen him play he’s been as good as he ever was for Hearts. He gets taunted with ‘you’re ‘no magic any more!’ but if he gets any time on the ball he can still destroy defences.
Hearts Team News:
Steven Pressley and Rudi Skacel are suspended, so Christophe Berra and Neil McCann are expected to be their replacements. Otherwise the rest of the team should be unchanged from East End Park.
Player to watch: Neil McCann
Will be very interesting to see if McCann still has the pace that terrorised defences in his first spell at Tynecastle. Here’s hoping!
Match Facts & Stats
Kilmarnock 2-4 Hearts
Hearts 1-0 Kilmarnock
Hearts 2-1 Kilmarnock (Scottish Cup)
Ref Watch:
Steve Conroy is the man in the middle tomorrow. Let’s hope he’s not the latest in a long list of clowns to ruin our Saturday afternoons!
Next Fixtures:
Hearts V Hibernian (Saturday 28/01/2006)
