A nervous moment for Kilmarnock defender Stuart Findlay.

He pulls out of passing back to Daniel Bachmann but manages to prevent a corner with a sliding clearance under pressure from Callumn Morrison after knocking it wide of his own goalkeeper.

Postpublished at 4mins

4mins

Kilmarnock 0-0 Heart of Midlothian

Billy Dodds
Former Scotland striker on Sportsound

It's a bit untidy at the moment. Plenty of free-kicks and little passing.

Kilmarnock have won six in a row at home in all competition - five in the Premiership, one short of a club record.

It could be a tough night for the visitors.

Kilmarnock get the game under way in their traditional blue and white stripes, Hearts in their usual maroon.

Here come the teams into a frosty Rugby Park.

Liam Millar, Kilmarnock's on-loan striker from Liverpool, is a youthful addition to the home squad at the age of 19.

If he is to make his debut tonight, he has to come off the bench.

Image source, SNS

Want to catch up on the January deals for tonight's clubs?

Heart of Midlothian

In: David Vanecek, forward (Teplice). Loan: Conor Shaughnessy, defender (Leeds United).

Out: Danny Amankwaa, midfielder (SonderjyskeE). Loan ended: Jimmy Dunne, defender (Burnley). Loan: Anthony McDonald, midfielder (Inverness Caledonian Thistle); Lewis Moore, forward (East Fife).

Kilmarnock

In: Alex Bruce, defender (Wigan Athletic). Loan: Youssouf Mulumbu, midfielder (Celtic); Liam Millar, forward (Liverpool); Conor McAleny, forward (Fleetwood Town).

Out: None permanent. Loan ended: Greg Stewart, forward (Birmingham City); Bright Enobakhare, forward (Wolverhampton Wanderers). Loan: Greg Kiltie, midfielder (Greenock Morton); Iain Wilson, midfielder (Queen of the South).

As for the rest of the Premiership, follow the link below...

Kilmarnock are unbeaten in seven games and a tonight would take Steve Clarke's side into second place in the Premiership ahead of Rangers.

Hearts have won four of their last five games but only one of their past five league meetings with Kilmarnock, a 1-0 win in August 2018.

An away win would take the Edinburgh side to within a point of fourth-placed Aberdeen.

Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke has been explaining that striker Eamonn Brophy misses out, being replaced with Mikael Ndjoli up front, after picking up a knock.

Loan signing from Fleetwood Town Conor McAleny would have been involved had the striker not been ill.

Explaining his recent signings, Clarke tells BBC Sportsound: "We are working on something long term here and I wanted to put Greg Kiltie and Iain Wilson out on loan to get game time and needed bodies in.

"I ran the first half of the season with three central defenders and didn't want to do that again, so I've brought in Alex Bruce.

"We have done good business in the window."

Image source, SNS

Hearts manager Craig Levein tells BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound: "I saw the snow lying on the way down, so I was quite relieved to see the condition of the pitch here.

"Steve Clarke has done a fantastic job with Kilmarnock and the two previous games have been 1-0 for us down here and 1-0 for them at our place, so I expect a tight game."

Image source, SNS

DR Congo midfielder Youssouf Mulumu has returned to Kilmarnock from Celtic on loan.

He doesn't feature tonight, with manager Steve Clarke explaining: "At six o'clock last night, I was expecting Youssouf to be going to Derby County, but with them not getting someone out, my staff worked hard to get it done."

The 32-year-old midfielder won a summer move to the Scottish champions after inspiring Killie to a fifth-place finish last season.

However, Mulumbu has only made three Celtic appearances, the last of which was in November, and will be keen to make an impact again at Rugby Park.

Mulumbu returns to Killie on loan

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Canada forward Liam Millar joins Alex Bruce among Kilmarnock's substitutes and hopes that learning from what he rates as "probably the best front three in the world at the moment" will help him impress on loan from Liverpool.

The 19-year-old has has yet to make his first-team breakthrough at the English Premier League leaders but has brushed shoulders with Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.

"Training with them is always a pleasure and you learn so much off them, especially Firmino and Salah, who play more my kind of role," he has told Kilmarnock TV., external

"They are really good mentors."

Millar joins Killie after new Reds deal

Hearts' main player business this week was securing Scotland central defenders Christophe Berra and John Souttar on contract extensions.

But the club's transfer dealings remained in the headlines, with manager Craig Levein explaining further his cold blast at new signing David Vanecek, who he hauled off before half-time in their defeat by Dundee.

How Levein has told BBC Scotland that the Czech striker understands why he was unhappy at his fitness on his arrival from Teplice and warned that Uche Ikpeazu will be first choice once he returns from injury.

Indeed, Vanecek is not even on the bench tonight.

Rows, heart attacks and being wrong

Image source, SNS

Image source, BBC Sport

Kilmarnock: Bachman, O'Donnell, Boyd, Findlay, Taylor, Tshibola, Dicker, Power, Burke, Ndjoli, Jones.

Substitutes: MacDonald, Bruce, Broadfoot, McKenzie, Waters, Millar, Frizzell.

Heart of Midlothian: Doyle, Smith, Shaughnessy, Souttar, Berra, Bozanic, Clare, Djoum, Naismith, Mulraney, Morrison.

Substitutes: Zlamal, Lee, Mitchell, MacLean, Cochrane, Dikamona, Keena.

Image source, BBC Sport

It's been a big week in the Bruce household, with father Steve due to take charge of Sheffield Wednesday for the first time away to Ipswich Town tomorrow and son Alex having joined Kilmarnock.

Steve has been telling Football Focus that he had delayed his move to Hillsborough for a month because he needed a break from football having "lost mum and dad in a short space of time", having a few health issues and losing his job with Aston Villa.

Centre-half Alex, who played under his dad when Hull City won the Championship play-off in 2016, has had his own problems on the playing front and has only made one appearance this season.

A lack of game time led to the 34-year-old negotiating his release from Wigan Athletic to join Steve Clarke at Rugby Park and he is on the bench tonight.

Bruce negotiates release to join Killie

Craig Levein was the manager who probably had the most relaxing transfer deadline day in Scotland.

The Hearts boss had made his January moves early - striker David Vanecek having been secured from Teplice as far back as the summer and Conor Shaughnessy arriving on loan from Leeds United to replace Jimmy Dunne, who returned to Burnley.

Levein made sure he didn't have any last-minute departures after promising to "switch my phone off" as he attended last night's Snow Patrol gig at Glasgow Hydro.

While Kilmarnock's artificial surface has ensured tonight's game goes ahead, clubs in Scotland's Leagues One and Two have not been so lucky.

One in the third tier and four in the bottom have been hit with as temperatures drop as low as -15.

League One

Stranraer P-P Stenhousemuir

League Two

Berwick Rangers P-P Annan Athletic

Cowdenbeath P-P Peterhead

Elgin City P-P Queen's Park

Stirling Albion P-P Clyde

That pesky transfer window is now closed and managers can now concentrate on the business of seeing how those new jigsaw pieces fit into their side for the rest of the season.

First up tonight are Kilmarnock and Hearts in the Scottish Premiership, two clubs who had a relatively quiet January in terms of player arrivals and departures.

But they will be hoping that what business they did do can keep them in the top five - starting tonight.

Stay with us for the build-up, live commentary and post-match reaction on BBC Radio Scotland and online.

Image source, SNS