Hearts will look to get back to winning ways in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday when they host Kilmarnock at Tynecastle Stadium.
Both sides have been out of competitive action for over a month, enabling them to put some hard yards in on the training field ahead of the league resumption.
Match preview
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Hearts will hope to build on their solid showing in the Scottish Premiership so far, where they find themselves fifth in the table under Robbie Neilson.
Despite starting the campaign in a strong fashion, some freakishly bad luck with injuries to senior players led to a dip in form, which they have since started to recover from.
The Jambos have lost just once in their last four league matches, coming in a narrow 1-0 defeat to Rangers in a fixture that truthfully could have gone either way.
Over the World Cup break, Hearts were involved in a training camp in Spain where they competed in friendly encounters against Blackburn Rovers and Almeria.
Nevertheless, Hearts will now turn their attention towards their match with Kilmarnock on Saturday, where they could leapfrog Livingston into fourth place with a victory.
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Kilmarnock make the trip to Edinburgh looking to improve on their inconsistent league form in 2022-23, causing them to occupy 11th position in the table on 15 points from 16 matches.
Killie have been impressive on home soil this campaign, taking 14 points from a possible 21 available at Rugby Park from eight matches with Derek McInnes at the helm.
Despite this, their away form has contrasted heavily with their exploits in Ayrshire, leading Kilmarnock to pick up just a single point from their eight fixtures on the road in the Scottish Premiership.
Unsurprisingly, the lack of points away from home has left Kilmarnock in a fight for their league status, hovering just three points above Dundee United, who are inside the relegation zone.
Moving ahead to this weekend, Kilmarnock could move as high as ninth in the division with a victory if results around the grounds fall their way.
Team News
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Hearts have a lengthy injury list for the visit of Kilmarnock, though could welcome back Craig Halkett and Stephen Kingsley, who have recovered from hamstring concerns.
Peter Haring is still being monitored for concussion and will miss the clash this weekend, while Beni Baningime and Liam Boyce are long-term absentees and will not partake either.
Kye Rowles is suspended owing to his red card against Livingston - he will be on the sidelines alongside Gary Mackay-Steven and Stephen Humphrys, who are both struggling with injury problems.
For the visitors, Kyle Lafferty is still suspended for conduct away from the field and will not be allowed to play at Tynecastle.
Scott Robinson is still recuperating from a long-term knee injury, meaning Innes Cameron is likely to spearhead the attack for the away side.
Alan Power, Ash Taylor and Rory McKenzie risk being suspended if they receive a booking during proceedings.
Hearts possible starting lineup:
Gordon; Atkinson, Kingsley, Halkett; Cochrane; Kiomourtzoglou; Ginnelly, Devlin, Snodgrass, McKay; Shankland
Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:
Hemming; Mayo, Taylor, Stokes; Armstrong, Donnelly, Power, McKenzie; Jones, Cameron, Murray
We say: Hearts 2-1 Kilmarnock
In a match that has significant consequences in the Scottish Premiership, both sides will look to get on the front foot early on in search of an important result.
On this occasion, Hearts will prevail and take a step in the right direction in their quest to qualify for European football.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
