Robbie Neilson’s men were humbled on Sunday, losing 5-0 to Rangers at Ibrox in what was by far and away the single worst result of the 2021/22 campaign thus far.
They’ll be going up against a Dundee side who will be nursing their wounds too. James McPake’s men dropped into sole place at the bottom of the top flight this past weekend with a 2-1 home defeat to Ross County despite taking a first-half lead.
The former Hibs centre-back is under pressure to soon turn things around with no league victories in their last nine, a run stretching back to December 1.
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Where and when
Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh. Wednesday 9 February. 7.45pm kick-off time.
How to watch
Match tickets are still available from the Hearts ticket office. For those who wish to watch the action from home, it is available through Hearts TV pay-per-view at the cost of £15.00
Team news
John Souttar is expected to return after he missed the last Hearts two games with an ankle knock.
Dundee will be without the services of January signing Vontae Daley-Campbell after the right-back was shown a straight red card at the end of his side’s match at the weekend.
Possible line-ups
Hearts: Gordon; Souttar, Sibbick, Kingsley; Atkinson, Haring, Baningime, Cochrane; McKay, Simms, Ginnelly.
Dundee: Legzdins; Elliott, Sweeney, Fontaine, Kerr; Bryne, Adam, McGhee; McMullan, Rudden, McCowan.
Referee
Hearts haven’t seen Colin Steven since the referee took charge of the 3-0 victory over Cove Rangers in the group stages of the Premier Sports Cup. In a match that largely passed without incident, Andy Halliday, Liam Boyce and Gary Mackay-Steven were on target for the Jambos. Dundee have been victorious in the two games officiated by Steven so far this campaign: the 2-1 win over Aberdeen in October and the 1-0 Scottish Cup triumph over Dumbarton last month.
Head to head
It’s a fixture where the away side has performed surprisingly well in recent matches. Dundee have avoided defeat, winning once, in two of their last four trips to Tynecastle, while Hearts have left with three points on three occasions across the last four visits to Dens Park. The first encounter this campaign ended 1-1 in Gorgie but Hearts were able to win the second contest 1-0 in the City of Discovery thanks to Jamie Walker’s second-half winner.
What the manager said
“Obviously, we were really disappointed with the result. There was probably a 20-minute period where we just weren’t our normal selves. I thought we had a few chances, but we got turned over and sometimes that happens.
“From our perspective it’s done now and we’re just looking to move forward and to try and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“I think if we bring our normal game to Tynecastle then I think we can win the game: we’ve had a really good record so far at home and we want to carry that on." (Robbie Neilson)
What the bookies say
Hearts 8/15, draw 3/1, Dundee 11/2 – from Bet365, odds correct as of February 8.