Premiership picks: Saturday night lights in Gorgie as Gray looks to lift gloom

It's back! The international break made for pretty good viewing for Scotland fans but many will be glad club football returns on Saturday.

And it's like the old days, with a full programme of fixtures all on the same day - even if one match kicks off at tea time and another in the evening.

We've picked out the key match as well as the player and manager to keep an eye on as the second third of the season gets under way.

Game of the weekend: Hearts v Celtic (Sat, 19:45)

When the fixtures were announced this will have been one of the games that Brendan Rodgers noticed. If he had known then it was going to be a Saturday evening game, he might have been even more fearful of it.

A raucous Tynecastle roaring on the third-best team in the country who had brought in some Premiership-proven talent in the summer was a game to take note of.

Instead it is almost top v bottom, with Hearts 22 points behind having played two games more.

The bare numbers suggest a stroll for the champions, but something says a noisy stadium and Neil Critchley getting two weeks training with his new players will make this a tricky game for the leaders.

Hearts pushed Rangers close at Ibrox last time out and taking the scalp of Celtic would be a big help in the Englishman convincing Jambos he is the right man for them.

A win for Hearts and other results going their way would see them move up to eighth and mean a very different atmosphere among fans and players.

And the squad knows how it feels, winning 2-0 in March last season. A repeat performance would be Hearts' first back-to-back home league wins against Celtic for the first time since 2006 under Valdas Ivanauskas.

Celtic having 13 players returning from international duty - with their Japan contingent facing long journeys - might help Hearts' cause.

That said, you would imagine Rodgers, armed with sports science data on his squad, will select according to fatigue levels and whatever 11 he fields will be strong.

They despatched Hearts in September at Celtic Park but the visitors had a first-half penalty award overturned after Lawrence Shankland's header came off Liam Scales' arm - so the story could have been different.

But then you remember Celtic have won all six of their away league games this season by an aggregate score of 18-1.

Player to watch: Cyriel Dessers (Rangers)

Dessers has scored 70% of his league goals for Rangers at Ibrox

Rangers have not made a very convincing start to the season but they can boast a 100% home record in the league.

On the road it has been rather bleak, averaging just 0.8 points from five outings.

Striker Cyriel Dessers exemplifies this strange dichotomy of form.

Of his 20 goals in the Premiership, 14 have come at home, including all four in this campaign. Indeed, 10 of the Nigerian international's last 12 league goals have been scored at either Ibrox or Hampden, which temporarily housed Rangers at the start this term.

Dessers struck early in the 1-0 win over Hearts last time. The Edinburgh side pushed Rangers all the way, while three more of those six home wins have been by a single-goal margin.

Rangers cannot afford to fall any further behind and Dundee United promise to be stuffy opposition, so any kind of win is welcome and Dessers is the best bet for hitting the net, particularly on home turf.

Manager in the spotlight: David Gray (Hibernian)

David Gray has had plenty of time to stew over an abysmal home defeat to St Mirren, which was followed by the dreaded vote of confidence from an under-fire board at Easter Road.

The 36-year-old looked in a state of deep shock as Stephen Robinson tried to offer a few consoling words at full-time, while the words in a brief statement on the current predicament did not amount to very much.

Gray has managed just one Premiership victory since getting the gig on a permanent basis in the summer, leaving Hibs propping up the table.

A run of three draws, two of which featured the now familiar concession of a late goal, had suggested the team was capable of more. However, the feeble showing against St Mirren has fans worried that their club may be heading to the Championship.

Players appeared totally drained of confidence and the lack of fight must have hurt Gray, who was such a fierce competitor in his days as captain.

Every passing fixture list brings a 'must-win' game for Gray and the good news is Dundee have only beaten Hibs once in their last 16 top-flight meetings.

But another sorry set of stats tells us Hibs have only won one of their last 15 away league outings (D8 L6) - and are winless in seven (D3 L4).