Several Hearts players out of Kilmarnock game but others are back from injury

Hearts will be without several players when the cinch Premiership resumes on Saturday against Kilmarnock at Tynecastle Park.

Defender Kye Rowles is suspended after receiving a red card in his last match for the Edinburgh club against Livingston. He and fellow Australian internationalists Nathaniel Atkinson and Cammy Devlin are due to report back to Riccarton on Thursday having been given time off following World Cup duty in Qatar.

However, Rowles is not available to face newly-promoted Kilmarnock due to his ban and must watch from the stand. Striker Stephen Humphrys is also still feeling the effects of an ankle injury which first surfaced in late October. He is not expected to be fit in time for this weekend.

Midfielder Peter Haring has been unable to train freely due to ongoing effects from a bout of concussion suffered against Aberdeen two months ago. The Austrian will not be rushed back into action by Hearts and medical staff are continuing to monitor his progress at the club’s training base.

While winger Gary Mackay-Steven has also struggled to train much after a broken foot, with midfielder Beni Baningime and striker Liam Boyce long-term absentees, more positive news surrounds Stephen Kingsley and Craig Halkett.

The defensive pair are fit and available to face Kilmarnock after both being sidelined with hamstring issues. Halkett’s absence was more prolonged than Kingsley’s but the sight of two such influential figures back ready to resume their relationship in central defence will be a welcome sight for the Hearts manager Robbie Neilson and his coaching staff.