Queen of the South v Hearts: team news, starting XI, match odds, how to watch live

Hearts thumped Queen of the South the last time the team's met. Picture: SNS

With a 12-point lead at the top of the Scottish Championship, Robbie Neilson’s men can take another step towards a return to the Premiership with three points in Dumfries.

After Friday night’s fixture, Hearts will just have 11 more league games to play in this truncated second tier season. Inverness, meanwhile, still have 16 matches left.

It is the second week in succession the league leaders are playing on the Friday night in front of the BBC cameras. Last week they saw off Ayr United in what was largely a gritty match impacted by strong winds.

Opponents Queen of the South sit second bottom with 14 points. They had put an excellent run of results together, winning three and drawing one, ahead of last weekend’s 2-1 loss to Alloa Athletic. Star man Connor Shields, who has nine goals in 18 appearances, went off injured in the first half.

Team news: Robbie Neilson has a strong to pick from. Aside from the long-term absentees, John Souttar and Jamie Brandon, the only player who would be missing is Aidy White. The defender-cum-winger has a hamstring issue and will be assessed ahead of the match. The club are managing the likes of Gary Mackay-Steven and Gervane Kastaneer who haven’t had many games in the past couple of months.

Possible starting XI: Gordon; Smith, Popescu, Halkett, Kingsely; Irving, Halliday; Walker, Mackay-Steven; Boyce, Gnanduillet.

What Neilson said: “I think there is more to come from a number of the boys. I was really pleased with [Aaron] McEneff coming in. I thought he brought energy and quality in midfield. You could also see what [Gervane] Kastaneer brings on the wing. On the couple of occasions he got at somebody, he got himself down the line and showed his power. It was a difficult surface to do that because it was heavy and bobbly.”

Match details: Friday, February 12. Kick-off 7.45pm, Palmerston Park, Dumfries.

How to watch: The match is being shown live on BBC Scotland with coverage starting at 7.30pm. Post-match coverage finishes at 10pm. The game is available to overseas subscribers to HeartsTV.

Last meeting: It was perhaps Hearts’ most dominant performance of the season when they thumped the Doonhamers 6-1 at Tynecastle Park in December. Steven Naismith and Liam Boyce gave the home side a 2-0 half-time lead and a third just after the break from Boyce effectively ended the game as a contest. Ayo Obileye pulled one back for the visitors but it was followed by goals from Jamie Walker, Elliott Frear and Josh Ginnelly.

Key stat: The teams have met seven times since 1999. Hearts have won all those meetings – one via a penalty shootout in 2013 – scoring 23 goals in the process. The match in 2013 was 2-2 after 90 minutes and 3-3 after 120 with Gary Locke’s side winning 4-2 on penalties at Tynecastle.

Referee: Colin Steven – The referee has only officiated one competitive Hearts match previously, a Betfred Cup encounter with Cowdenbeath in 2019 which the Tynecastle side won 2-0 at Central Park.

Match odds: Queen of the South 15/2 Draw 4/1 Hearts 1/3 (odds via McBookie)