Pressure at Tynecastle & Rugby Park as break beckons

The Scottish Premiership is astir to participate its first mid-season hiatus pinch world shot taking centre shape aft this weekend's games.

No-one wants to spell into nan break pointless aliases disconnected nan backmost of a dense loss.

Here are immoderate games and names to watch retired for.

OK, Celtic v Rangers is nan biggest top-flight lucifer of nan play but it will get plentifulness of attention.

What's absorbing astir Hearts' location gathering pinch Dundee United is that promoted United spell into Sunday's crippled unbeaten successful nan Premiership while past season's third-placed team, Hearts, are winless this season.

Head coach Steven Naismith has not yet settled connected a first prime XI, owed successful portion to Hearts juggling European fixtures on pinch convention and League Cup games.

The Tynecastle broadside desperately request to get skipper and talisman Lawrence Shankland firing again and playing against his erstwhile nine mightiness conscionable beryllium nan ticket, though he did miss nan midweek nonaccomplishment to Viktoria Plzen.

For United, a morale-boosting triumph against St Johnstone past play followed draws pinch Dundee and Ross County. They are besides done to nan past 8 of nan League Cup and head Jim Goodwin is seeing his newly-built squad dispersed nan goals around.

Last Saturday was almost nan turning constituent Hibernian had been looking for, pinch Kieron Bowie scoring to put them 2-1 up against Dundee.

A precocious equaliser denied Hibs a first Premiership triumph of nan play but Bowie getting a extremity truthful early successful his Easter Road profession will do him nary harm astatine all.

The Scotland Under-21 forward, 21, is backmost successful Scottish shot aft 4 years plying his waste and acquisition down southbound and connected Sunday he will beryllium hoping to find nan nett against a Kilmarnock broadside who exited nan Conference League astatine nan hands of Copenhagen connected Thursday.

Kilmarnock leader Derek McInnes, for illustration his Hearts, Rangers and St Mirren counterparts, has been trying to tackle some home and European fixtures early successful nan play and it has taken a toll.

Killie are yet to registry a constituent successful nan convention and are retired of nan League Cup. If they are to unafraid different top-six decorativeness and push for Europe again, they cannot get excessively detached, moreover astatine specified an early stage.

Aberdeen, Dundee and Dundee United person already group their stall retired successful pursuit of a top-half place. Hibs excessively would for illustration to beryllium successful that position and guidelines betwixt McInnes' men and 3 points connected Sunday.