Scottish Premiership: Kilmarnock v Livingston, McInnes and Stewart in focus

After suffering a third successive away defeat and with the gap between Celtic and Rangers at the top closed, Derek McInnes will be happy with some comfort at home as he looks to calm the narrative that his long-time leaders are cracking under the pressure of the title.

The coming weeks are sure to test his managerial experience, starting with a visit to the team led by former Hearts caretaker and captain Steven Pressley.

Pressley knows all about how the Tynecastle crowd can be the 12th man in good times but can quickly become frantic with frustration.

Hearts are unbeaten at home in the Premier League this season, but since losing on penalties to Falkirk in the Scottish Cup in January, they have drawn with Celtic and recorded three successive 1-0 wins.

Stress and tension can sometimes be cut with a knife, and Dundee arrives buoyed by two stoppage-time goals to draw in the City derby on Sunday.

Eight points behind St Mirren and Kilmarnock, Pressley’s team has not yet gotten rid of the relegation problem, but they are close to it after five matches without defeat.

McInnes has been here before too, guiding Aberdeen to four successive second-place finishes as he became Celtic’s main rival during Rangers’ financial woes from 2014-18.

He would be forgiven if he was haunted by memories of the 2015-16 season, when the Dons were just three points behind Celtic with 14 games to play before stumbling in the closing stages to finish second by 15 points.

The growing tension could explain why, since the start of February, Hearts have scored just five goals from 77 shots in the Premier League, a conversion rate of 6.5% – the lowest of any team in the competition at this time.

The xG/shot of 0.076 is also the lowest of any side in League One over this period. Meanwhile, Dundee have been leading both metrics since February 1 (15.2% conversion, 0.129 xG/shot).

The return of Scottish striker Lawrence Shankland from injury, along with key midfielder Cammy Devlin, should help improve those statistics for Hearts.

They beat Dundee 4-0 on their last visit in November, but McInnis will no doubt be satisfied with a repeat of the 1-0 win at Dens Park in January and a sixth win over the Dark Blues in their last seven trips to Tynecastle.