Kyle could cause Laszlo Heartache

Had this evening's SPL match taken place on Saturday as scheduled, Kyle would not have played due to the knee injury which denied him a Scotland return recently.

The postponement after the visiting team bus got stuck in traffic on the M8 has inadvertently provided extra recuperation time, and the striker may be sufficiently fit to feature tonight.

Laszlo stopped short of bemoaning that potential consequence of the delay and pledged to prepare his team regardless of who might take the field in a Kilmarnock shirt.

However, 11 goals in 15 games since moving to Rugby Park denote Kyle as a far more predatory forward than the awkward looking figure who seemed to typify Berti Vogts' reign as Scotland coach.

At 28, he has matured into a dominant, vibrant striker, and Laszlo believes keeping him quiet tonight will underpin Hearts' chances of securing their first league victory of the season.

"It is definitely true that I had an interest in Kyle, he is a good player," he said. "I know he was in the Scotland squad but then came out with a knee injury.

"He is a dangerous striker who can score goals. We know about him. But he plays for Kilmarnock now, not for Hearts.

"I had other players that I was interested in, like Liam Miller who is now with Hibernian. I don't think about the names that were on my list now. I have my team and I will work with this team.

"Kilmarnock is a very dangerous team. They won at Tynecastle last season and we won away at their stadium. For us, it is indifferent who is the opponent, we must collect points. I don't look at the name of the opponent, I take every opponent very seriously.

"We need to have discipline on the field to do our job. We were very unlucky against Rangers and St Johnstone and to win games I think the luck must come back to us. But, also, to get luck you must do something.

"We cannot talk about losing games and say we don't have luck, we must go out and bring the luck back by playing well."

Jim Jefferies, the Kilmarnock manager, will allow Kyle, Jamie Hamill and Danny Invincibile every chance to declare their fitness for the visit to Tynecastle. "I thought there was an outside chance for Kevin on Saturday but we decided not to risk him. The few extra days will certainly give him a better chance," he said.

The sparseness of Laszlo's attacking options has been well documented but Andy Driver's return from injury ensures Hearts will carry their own potent weapon this evening.

"The manager feels his forwards are gradually adhering to his demands but is also considering springing one or two surprises against one of his predecessors.

"Jim knows Tynecastle, he was with Heart of Midlothian a very long time and was successful. I know he won the cup, so he knows every corner of Tynecastle," he continued. "We don't have many strikers to score goals but the situation is getting a little better. We have Calum Elliot injured but Christian Nade is making a big effort physically to come back. I appreciate his effort.

"Gary Glen did not play too many games last season but slowly he understands that football is a running sport. If he would like to play, he must work more in training and what he is doing at the moment is good.

"Maybe we have to play a little bit different. Maybe there will be a new puzzle. Against St Johnstone we scored goals, against Dinamo Zagreb we scored, and also against Rangers. We can be dangerous from any position if the players do what I want. The number of strikers does not tell you how many goals you will score.

"It is sometimes a bad philosophy to say you are offensive if you play with three strikers but defensive if you only play with one. This is just imagination.

"You can be dangerous and score goals with one striker. It is a question of the players you have and what you get out of them.

"I will try to do something that will work. We have a lot of possibilities. We have Driver back and we can play a different shape now. We will see tonight who plays and who does not. It is not a question of 4-3-3, 4-4-2 or 4-1-4-1. What you do must work, that is all. I must put a team on the field that will win the game.

"Last season people asked why did we not play with two strikers, this is not normal. But even if you play 4-3-3 you may not have three strikers.

"You have two wingers and one middle striker, so that is still only one striker. You can play with no strikers and still score goals.

"I don't have any problem playing with Zaliukas, Bouzid, Obua, Driver, Suso, Goncalves and Wallace all in the same team. This is possible, it is just a question of what you do in training and in which position you are strong.

"You always build from behind. I like offensive football but every team who becomes champion is champion from the back. This is the basic because games are often decided in defence."

In three meetings between the clubs last season, Hearts recorded two victories and lost once. Mark Brown, the former Rangers, Motherwell, Inverness and Celtic goalkeeper, could debut for Kilmarnock tonight after moving on loan from Celtic, but Laszlo will pay greater attention to the danger lurking at the front end of the visiting team.