Kilmarnock v Hearts (Wed)

Striker Gary Wales and defenders Liam Fontaine and Freddie Dindeleux are doubtful, while Colin Nish and Gordon Greer are still unavailable.

Hearts defender Jamie McAllister will miss the trip through suspension.

But Scotland centre-half Andy Webster's ban does not apply to the cup, while Deividas Cesnauskis could win a debut.

Steven Naismith earned Killie a replay, with Livingston awaiting the winners in the next round, following a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw at Tynecastle.

But Hearts recorded a convincing 3-0 victory against Wednesday's opponents in the Scottish Premier League at the weekend.

We gave Hearts far too much room to play
Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies
Killie manager Jim Jefferies will hope to make home advantage tell against his former club, but the loss of Locke for up to three weeks adds to his selection problems.

"Without a doubt that was the most disappointed I have been all season," he said.

"I'm not saying that we played fantastically well in the first cup game, but we competed and, for some reason, we didn't on Saturday.

"What you want is a game quickly to get it out of the system.

"The boys were in on Sunday, we knew they would be down and we had a wee talk with them and then we had a look at the video on Monday.

"We gave Hearts far too much room to play and, no matter who you play, you'll have problems if you do that, but we'll be well fired up for it this time."

Hearts assistant manager Donald Park has complained that the two sides play each other too often, this being their sixth meeting this season.

But he hopes homegrown youngsters like centre-half Christophe Berra and left-back Lee Wallace will help keep his side fresh - and Jefferies guessing.

"Steven Pressley was like a granddad in the back four on Saturday, so the real positives are that we've got young players at centre-back and left-back and both played very well," said Park.

"It's not been planned. It's just the way things have worked out, but for the benefit of the future of the game in Scotland we must have a pathway for the kids to come through."

The signings of Lithuanian striker Saulius Mikoliunas and Icelandic forward Halmar Thorarinsson have also strengthened the Edinburgh side in attack.

And Park hinted that their other Lithuanian signing, Cesnauskis, who trained with the club for the first time this week, could win a debut.

Cesnauskis is keeping Mikoliunas out of the Lithuanian national side, yet the 22-year-old understudy gave Killie a tought time at the weekend.

"He played last week for Lithuania and his fitness is good, so he'll be available," added Park.

"He hasn't been ruled in or ruled out."


Taken from the BBC