Apart from that opening goal, there has been little in the way of goalmouth action so far.

Kilmarnock look in control and calm on the ball. Dundee United have had a disjointed start.

And indeed that substitution takes place with Owen Stirton taking over from Max Watters.

Kheredine Idessane
BBC Scotland at Rugby Park

I thought the water break was coming after 22 minutes. We're 15 in and the players have brought it forward while one of the United players - Max Watters - gets some attention from the physios. Dundee United do not want any more injuries but it looks like his game might be done?

Owen Stirton coming on. The Tannadice injury jinx continues.

Kheredine Idessane
BBC Scotland at Rugby Park

It looks like Killie have unearthed an absolute diamond in left wingback Ben Brannan. The quality of his cross-field, 60-70 yard pass/assist for Marcus Dackers' goal was truly top notch.

He scored an absolute worldie last week at Easter Road, added to the three he claimed in the Premier Sports group stage. A potential star on the rise.

Robbie Deas picked up a booking for a foul moments ago and now both sets of players are taking advantage of a break in play to rehydrate.

It was a textbook finish from Marcus Dackers to give Kilmarnock the lead against Dundee United.

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Former Kilmarnock forward Kris Boyd and Scottish FA head of refereeing Willie Collum are among the spectators at Rugby Park.

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Kilmarnock captain Brad Lyons makes an impact on his return to the side, burrowing his way down the right flank and sending a dangerous cross in.

United get enough bodies in the way on this occasion.

The Kilmarnock front two already look like they will be handful for that Dundee United defence.

The home midfield looked primed to feed off any scraps from aerial duels.

Kheredine Idessane
BBC Scotland at Rugby Park

We're underway, with a good atmosphere inside Rugby Park where a good sized crowd has turned up for what could be a cracker. Both sets of supporters full of expectation, a home tie with St Mirren awaits the winners of this.

Right, let's get into the action.

The players have swapped halves following the toss and we're almost ready to go.

Kheredine Idessane
BBC Scotland at Rugby Park

The groundstaff here tell me it's 34 degrees on the pitch. That's led to an agreement between both sides to have water breaks in East Ayrshire during the match, one midway through each half.

Costa del Killie, love it.

Or, as they used to say in the Fast Show: "Scorchio!"

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Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin tells BBC Sportsound: "We're delighted to have Luca [Stephenson] back at Dundee United, he was a fantastic player for us last season. He's a really good, invaluable squad player.

"There was no ill feeling toward Amar Fatah after the Rapid game. Today he's got the opportunity from the start to make amends [for missing a penalty]. He's in the team today because of the injury to Zac Sapsford that he picked up in the build-up to the penalty where he got wiped out. That's a major disappointment for us because he's been a real key player for us up until now.

"It's a strained ankle ligament injury so those types of injuries can take anything from two to four weeks. He's a young lad, he'll heal quickly. Majorly disappointed not to have him in a really important game today.

"Kilmarnock will be the fresher team but the incentives are there for everyone. We need to manage the game properly today, start on the front foot, and the substitutions for us today will be key."

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Dundee United have had four Conference League games to contend with as well as their Scottish Premiership fixtures.

After beating UNA Strassen home and away, they drew 2-2 twice with Rapid Vienna only to lose on penalties to the Austrian side on Thursday evening.

In the Premiership, an opening weekend draw at Falkirk was followed by home defeat by Hearts.

The winner of Kilmarnock v Dundee United will host St Mirren in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals.

St Mirren overcame Hearts on penalties yesterday, with the shootout ending 5-4 following a 1-1 draw after extra time.

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Kilmarnock manager Stuart Kettlewell tells BBC Sportsound: "It's a bonus [having Brad Lyons back].

"It certainly wasn't a change because we felt anybody let us down last week. You get your captain back into the team, someone we feel has been really influential over pre-season and also gives us some leadership in the middle of the park.

"We're pleased with where we are, we feel as if we've done relatively well but we always want to do better.

"We have to concentrate on our own job. You only have so many opportunities to go on really good cup runs and for me that's what I focus on. The team is playing against a very good side in Dundee United today and I'm not looking beyond that.

"We need to be very good today to get past that very big hurdle."

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After a solid Premier Sports Cup group campaign, Kilmarnock have opened their Scottish Premiership campaign with similarly stout draws against Livingston and Hibernian.

Stuart Kettlewell is still unbeaten at home as Kilmarnock manager and undefeated over 90 minutes in the job.

Dundee United make two changes following Thursday's mammoth match with Rapid Vienna.

Amar Fatah and Luca Stephenson come in for Panutche Camara and Zac Sapsford, neither of whom make the bench.

It's midfielder Stephenson's first appearance since returning for a second loan spell from Liverpool.

Image source, SNS