Hearts make the trip to Livingston on Sunday looking to strengthen their hold of third position in the Scottish Premiership standings.
However, the visitors are aware that defeat at the Almondvale Stadium will leave their hosts just four points adrift of them with a match in hand.
Match preview
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After losing five of their opening 11 league matches this season, it soon became apparent that Hearts faced a battle to replicate their third-placed finish from 2021-22.
To their credit, Robbie Neilson's side have reacted with an impressive run of results, their only further loss over the same amount of fixtures coming at Rangers.
More recently, Hearts have put together an eight-game unbeaten streak which has featured five wins, and they now sit in a commanding position in the race to finish as best of the rest.
On the back of thrashing Aberdeen by a 5-0 scoreline in their last league outing, Hearts backed that up by dumping neighbours Hibernian out of the Scottish Cup on away territory.
While attempting to end the season with silverware remains high on their agenda, so is solidifying third spot in the top flight, leaving Sunday's encounter as a key fixture in their campaign.
From Livingston's perspective, they deserve huge credit for remaining in contention with Hearts, their most recent two contests ending in victory on the road.
A second-half burst was responsible for a 2-0 triumph at Ross County, and a ruthless streak during the opening period at St Johnstone proved crucial in securing a 4-2 win.
That four-goal salvo represented a sixth of their total for the entire Scottish Premiership season, something which will only leave David Martindale feeling optimistic about the trajectory of his team.
Last time out, Livingston joined Hearts in reaching the next round of the Scottish Cup as they returned from Stenhousemuir with a 3-1 success.
Team News
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Martindale made minimal changes for the cup tie at lower-league opposition, and the side named for this fixture should be similar.
Sean Kelly and Stephane Omeonga were given a rest from central midfield, but they should return to the Livingston XI.
Jack Fitzwater's participation may be dependent on whether Livingston receive any concrete interest in his signature.
Lawrence Shankland will be absent for Hearts after his late dismissal versus Hibs last weekend.
Garang Kuol, Yutaro Oda and Stephen Humphrys are all bidding to take his place in what is likely to be the only alteration to the starting lineup.
Livingston possible starting lineup:
George; Devlin, Fitzwater, Boyes, Penrice; Shinnie, Kelly, Omeonga; Bradley, Anderson, Kelly
Hearts possible starting lineup:
Clark; Hill, Sibbick, Rowles; Smith, Devlin, Snodgrass, Cochrane; Kuol, McKay; Ginnelly
We say: Livingston 1-2 Hearts
With Livingston recently joining their next opponents in putting together a strong run of form, this should prove to be a highly-competitive fixture. Nevertheless, we cannot back against Hearts right now, and they could run out victors by the odd goal in three.
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Top tip
Darren Plant
