The Men in Maroon go into the game on a high having edged now-relegated St Johnstone 2-1 at Tynecastle while Killie were beaten 3-0 at Motherwell, both games on Wednesday.

Liam Fox (pictured), Hearts’ interim head coach, said it was always tough travelling to Rugby Park but he said: “We will get back to work, look forward to Sunday and the challenge of going down there and, hopefully, we will try to make it four wins on the bounce.”

Fox took charge after the sacking of Neil Critchley following the 1-0 home defeat by Dundee in the opening game of the second phase of the season, beating Ross County 3-1 away and then recording a 3-0 win against Motherwell last Saturday at home before Wednesday’s success.

Fox told Hearts TV that he felt his men were “really good” in the first half against the Perth side, creating a number of chances, and he was pleased to return to the dressing-room 2-0 ahead.

In the second-half Fox said you saw a group of players who dug in and worked exceptionally hard as St Johnstone “threw everything” at the Jambos to salvage something from the game.

He added: “I was disappointed with the goal we lost but, overall, I was thoroughly delighted with the points.”

Fox stressed that winning games of football in the Premiership is not easy, and he added: “Credit to the players who have won three games back-to-back. Was the second-half (against St Johnstone) as good I would have liked it to have been, absolutely not.”

Harry Milne made only his second appearance since joining the Gorgie club and Fox said the player had trained well and deserved the opportunity. Milne made an impact, providing the cross which led to the opening goal.

Fox stressed that including Milne in the starting line-up was a difficult choice as Stephen Kingsley has also been training well and he said: “I thought Harry was excellent.”

Hearts sit on 49 points from 37 fixtures with Motherwell in second spot in the relegation zone with 48 points and Kilmarnock are third with 44 points.

Dundee are fourth on 38 points with Ross County in the play-off spot with 36 points and St Johnstone prop up the rest with 32 points.

Incidentally, Kilmarnock are selling tickets for the game direct to Hearts supporters and no loyalty points have been awarded for this fixture. Prices are £27 for adults, £22 for concessions and £15 for under-18s. Under-16s are £10.