Hearts bolstered by return of first-choice trio who have only had 27 minutes together

Hearts may be shy of the third place status they enjoyed last term but the performances of their Australian World Cup players and the return to fitness of Craig Halkett and Stephen Kingsley have stoked optimism that another European adventure can be clinched by a squad that has developed a taste for mixing it with the elite.

Stephen Kingsley wraps up warmly during Hearts' final training session ahead of the match against Kilmarnock. Photo by Ewan Bootman / SNS Group

This afternoon represents a tough reintroduction to league business after more than a month as they welcome Kilmarnock, who ousted them from the League Cup and held them to a draw in their first Premiership meeting of the season.

Games are going to come at them thick and fast over a busy festive period but rested and reinforced there is the belief that they can tap into the European and international experience as they strengthen things at the back.

“When you look at some of the stats from last season and this, we’re actually scoring more goals but we’re conceding more so we need to be more solid at the back,” explained manager Robbie Neilson, whose side sits four points off third. “That’s been one of the issues we’ve had with the injuries and rotation we’ve had to do at the back. There has been a bit of instability so hopefully having players back will help them.”

The prospect of having his first choice backline of Halkett, Kingsley and Kye Rowles all available again has undoubtedly bolstered the vibe in camp mood, as has seeing the latter shine so brightly for Australia in Qatar, despite being faced with the attacking might of both of the World Cup finalists.

“He’s a really good defender, a good type, a good boy,” said the Hearts boss of the Socceroo. “When you see the calibre of teams he was playing against you knew it would be difficult but I always thought he would do well so I’m pleased for him.

"Stephen [Kingsley], Halkett and Rowles, that’s the three first team centre backs we looked at but in the initial part of the season we only got 27 minutes of them together. That was disappointing.”

“I think the Zurich game away was the game he’s talking about, before Craig Halkett had to go off,” added Kingsley. “That’s probably our three most experienced boys at the back and you want as many minutes together as possible. Consistency is massive for a backline and hopefully we get more of that now.”

Emotional when he left the field against RFS with a hamstring injury, Kingsley is now back and says the experience of mixing it with top players, like Fiorentina’s Moroccan star Sofyan Amrabat can help them throughout the remainder of the campaign.

“His performances at the World Cup did not come as a surprise to us boys. He’s technically brilliant, his positional sense is amazing, the way he gets about and breaks up play, and he is calm and collected as well. So no-one here was shocked, to be honest. People maybe looked at Fiorentina’s league position and thought we had a chance to get at them. But you need to realise how good a team they actually were and with those kind of players it was always going to be difficult. That experience was amazing for us and hopefully we can get another taste of it next season.”