Live: Hearts update from Riccarton on Beni Baningime, Andrés Salazar and Yutaro Oda

Beni Baningime is back in training with Hearts ahead of Wednesday’s Premiership match with Kilmarnock. The Congolese midfielder is in contention to feature in the match, although coaching staff must decide whether he should return to the starting line-up after illness or take a seat among the substitutes.

Bangingime missed the last two matches against Omonoia Nicosia and Hibs, but is now recovered and pushing for some action. “Benny trained today. He was back in, so it was nice to see him,” explained the Hearts head coach, Neil Critchley. “He's done a full training session, so we have to think about whether he's done enough. He's not trained now since last Wednesday, which is nearly a week. We have to think whether that's enough for him to be included tomorrow.”

Japanese winger Yutaro Oda has not played for more than a month due to a hamstring strain. “He'll be still a few weeks away yet, unfortunately,” confirmed Critchley. “Callum [Nieuwenhof] is similar. Obviously, Gerald [Taylor] is a longer-term one, but everyone else is okay at the moment.”

Colombian left-back Andrés Salazar remains out of favour having made only one appearance since joining Hearts in August. “It's difficult. I say that to all the players,” admitted Critchley. “Unfortunately, I have to disappoint some players every week. That's not the nice side of the job or the hardest part of the job.

“Some players will like me because they're in the team. Some players will think I'm all right because they're in the squad, and some players will think I'm an idiot. That's just the nature of this industry. What we do is make sure that the players get our full respect. We train them properly, so if that opportunity does come along, then they're ready to play.”

Derek McInnes brings his Kilmarnock team to Edinburgh on the back of two wins and a defeat in their last three games. They beat Dundee and Rangers before losing at Ross County on Saturday. Critchley is eager for Hearts to maintain momentum after his first three games in charge - victories over St Mirren and Omonoia Nicosia and then Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Hibs.

“If you look at some of the results this season, I think a lot of the teams are evenly-matched. I think they're really tight games,” observed Critchley. “If you look at Kilmarnock's recent results, they've picked up quite a few points. They are very close games. Obviously they had fantastic win against Rangers. You know the type of game that we're going to face.

“We've got to concentrate on us and who we want to be. I don't want that feeling after the derby game of the Lord Mayor's show. We've got to go again. We've got two really important games coming up and that starts with Kilmarnock on Wednesday night.”

With Remembrance weekend on the horizon, Critchley is sporting a poppy and ensured he is well informed on what the event means at Tynecastle Park. “The history of Hearts - I did a lot of reading on that before I came to the football club. I know the importance of McCrae's battalion. I read about it. It's quite moving actually, quite touching,” he said.

“For us to pay our respects, it's hugely important for the football club. I know it's normally on the day of the Rangers game, at the [Haymarket] clock, which I passed yesterday. I did a tour of the city. I know the significance of certain monuments and what it means to this football club.”