Claudio Braga netted a double as Hearts cruised to victory over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in October, but the Portugal-born striker’s scoring has dried up and he has failed the net in recent games, his last strike coming against St Mirren at Paisley on October 29.
Two of the Tynecastle team’s top marksmen so far this term, Alexandros Kzyridis and skipper, Lawrence Shankland, who have both gone off the boil at the same time although Shankland netted for Scotland in their recent World Cup qualifier at Hampden against Denmark, a significant and historic strike for the Tartan team.
Last weekend’s no-score game at Motherwell meant the Jambos have found the net only once in their last three games and that came courtesy of the body of Dundee United’s 26-year-old goalkeeper, Yevhen Kucherenko, after 25 minutes.
The ball bounced back towards the Ukrainian after a Kyziridis shot hit the upright in a 1-1 draw.
The Jambos then lost 1-0 at rain-soaked Pittodrie and then drew 0-0 at Fir Park.
The recent dip, plus the up-coming fixture card, is a worry for Jambos fans who were rejoicing when their favourites led the league by a considerable margin. Now, that lead has shrunk to only two with Celtic ready to pounce. The Bhoys, recently boosted by the introduction of 73-year-old, Martin O’Neill, also have a with a game in hand.
Yes, the records show that Hearts have only lost twice in nearly 20 games so far this term, but the recent form slump must be addressed going into a tough spell.
After the Killie visit (kick-off 19.45) the Men in Maroon travel to Celtic on Sunday (15.00), Falkirk on Saturday, December 13 (20.00) and then entertain Rangers on December 21 (13.30) before travelling across the city to square-up to Hibs on December 27 (12.30).
Wednesday’s fixture is also a key one for Stuart Kettlewell, Kilmarnock’s manager, who is under severe pressure with the scant return of one point from a possible 21 underlining that. That arrived on Saturday with a 1-1 home draw with Dundee United.
Their lean spell stretches back to October 4 when they earned a 2-0 win over St Mirren at Rugby Park, thanks to goals from D Watson and M Dackers.
It’s been downhill fast since then with Hearts starting the slide with their 3-0 success in Ayrshire in mid-October.
Former Killie boss, Derek McInnes (pictured), must see this home game as an opportunity to put a big W back on the club’s league record. Of course, that would ramp up the pressure on his opposite number.
McInnes and his coaching staff know the Rugby Park squad, their strengths and weaknesses, and he says there are good players at Kilmarnock. However, ambitious McInnes told Hearts TV: “We’ve got to get back to what we do, regardless of who turns up, regardless of what Kilmarnock turn up.
“We have got to try and get back to what we want to do.”
Meanwhile, Ann Budge officially steps down at the club’s annual meeting on Thursday and a presentation will take place before the match at around 7.25pm. Andrew McKinlay, Hearts’ CEO, and McInnes will make the presentation.
There will also be a silence of one minute to pay tribute to Gary Kirk who passed away recently. Hearts ask that fans are in their seats for this.
