Kilmarnock

Watch highlights as 10-man Hearts end their Scottish Premiership season with a late victory at Kilmarnock.

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• Hearts have won their last four games in the Premiership, their last longer winning streak was from 2 January 2024 to 17 February 2024, a run of six games.

• Kilmarnock have failed to score in 13 of their 38 games, only Ross County (15) have failed to score more often in the Premiership this season.

• Hearts have scored in each of their last four games in the Premiership, scoring nine goals in that run.

Ten-man Hearts clinched seventh place in the Scottish Premiership after Stephen Kingsley's late strike at Kilmarnock earned a fourth successive win under caretaker manager Liam Fox.

What did you make of that, Kilmarnock fans? Would you like to see Chris Burke stay on?

Which players do you want to stay on? Let us know your thoughts here.

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Kilmarnock caretaker manager Chris Burke tells BBC Scotland: "It felt good. The players have been excellent, they made me feel comfortable. The experience was great for me and Craig Clark (assistant) as well.

"Just disappointed we concede that goal at that end. I'll have to digest that as time goes on and then reflect on the game.

"There's been a lot of success in the past four seasons. We need to try and maintain that. There will be bumps in the road.

"It's up to the board what they decide and what they're looking for, the profile for the manager. They have a great bunch of players staying on for the next manager.

"He's got a good group, a good core, and that will help the next manager hugely."

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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A new dawn beckons for Kilmarnock and the sense is most welcome that.

They'd have loved to have gone into this summer off the back of a win to send the fans home happy. But it was not to be, despite having that numerical advantage.

McInnes clearly delivered success but his departure opens the door for a fresh approach that may reinvigorate the support. Sometimes the time just feels right for all concerned.

This is a club that now has a great foundation in place having consolidated their Premiership place.

Not the greatest of seasons, and European commitments did take a toll, but job done and with a number of the squad out of contract, there's an opportunity for the new manager to implement their own approach with effective recruitment.

It will be a fascinating summer to see how it unfolds.

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Kilmarnock defender Robbie Deas is suspended while Kyle Magennis will not be risked after a knee injury. Brad Lyons (groin) and Joe Wright (hip) have a chance of featuring.

Hearts caretaker Liam Fox is set to choose from an unchanged squad.

Craig Gordon (shoulder), Jamie McCart (groin), Blair Spittal, Kenneth Vargas (knee), Gerald Taylor (knee) and Aidan Denholm (hamstring) are all likely to remain sidelined, while James Penrice could be left out again as he is one booking away from a two-match ban.

Incoming Heart of Midlothian boss Derek McInnes wants to take Stuart Findlay with him from Kilmarnock, where the 29-year-old centre-half has spent two seasons on loan from Oxford United. (Daily Record), external

Kilmarnock striker Bobby Wales has passed his medical with Swansea City and is in the process of finalising terms on a four-year contract that will net the Scottish Premiership club around £300,000 in training compensation for the 19-year-old. (Daily Record), external

Read Saturday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Rory McKenzie says it's an "absolute honour" to continue his Kilmarnock career after signing a one-year contract extension.

The midfielder made his debut for the club in 2011 and has gone on to make over 400 appearances, scoring 26 goals.

A number of events, including a testimonial match against Ayr United, are planned to mark the 31-year-old's "incredible service" to Kilmarnock.

And McKenzie said: "It's an absolute honour to sign on for another season.

"To have a testimonial year at Kilmarnock means the world to me and my family. I'm grateful to the fans, the staff, and everyone who's been part of my journey so far.

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David Watson has praised Derek McInnes for kick-starting his career and says the outgoing manager has been "absolutely brilliant" for Kilmarnock.

McInnes will not take charge of Killie against Hearts on Sunday and is set to seal a move to the Tynecastle club early next week.

"He came and spoke to us, wished us all the best and that was it," said 20-year-old midfielder Watson.

"I have nothing but respect for the guy, he gave me my first start in the SPFL and he's taken us from the Championship to playing in Copenhagen [in the Conference League], so I wish him all the best.

"He's been absolutely brilliant for us. He's kind of kick-started my career into what it's been so far and I'm nearly reaching my 100th game mark and most of them have been under him, so I'm nothing but thankful for him.

"Everybody liked him, we all got along good, we had a great togetherness within the staff and the players, but that's football, we just need to move on now and we're looking ahead to the game on Sunday."

Watson wishes McInnes had been given the opportunity for a send-off on Sunday in Killie's final game of the season.

"I'd say so, yes, because he definitely deserves it, the journey we've been on as a group," he added.

"But that's football, these things happen and we're more focused on beating Hearts on Sunday."

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• After their 1-0 win in December, Kilmarnock could win back-to-back home games over Hearts in the top flight for the first time since March 2014.

• Having won 3-2 in January, Hearts are looking to pick up back-to-back top-flight victories over Kilmarnock for the first time since April 2010 (run of 5).

• Excluding the curtailed 2019-20 season, Kilmarnock have won on matchday 38 in four of their past five Scottish Premiership campaigns (D1) since a 2-1 defeat to Ross County in 2016-17.

• Hearts haven't won their final match of a top-flight season in any of their past 18 attempts (D6 L12 – including curtailed 2019-20) since a 3-2 win over Motherwell in 2003-04.

• Hearts have 49 points in the Scottish Premiership this season – a win in this match will mean they would have the most points by a bottom-six side in a campaign since St Johnstone in 2018-19 (52).

Former Hearts head coach Steven Naismith has not ruled himself out of the running to become the next Kilmarnock manager after he quickly emerged as a frontrunner to succeed Derek McInnes, who is expected to become Tynecastle boss next week. (The Warm-up podcast), external

Kilmarnock want to hold talks with their former striker, Steven Naismith, as they begin the search for a successor to Hearts-bound manager Derek McInnes. (Scottish Sun), external

Manager Derek McInnes told Kilmarnock he would not be in the dugout for Sunday's final game of the season against Hearts before Wednesday's defeat by Motherwell. (Scottish Sun), external

Derek McInnes told Kilmarnock's players that he had managed them for the last time moments after their defeat by Motherwell on Wednesday night. (Daily Record), external

Read Friday's Scottish Gossip in full.

Sportscene pundits Michael Stewart and Charlie Mulgrew discuss the red card given to Kilmarnock's Robbie Deas against Motherwell on Wednesday.

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Kilmarnock caretaker manager Chris Burke says he does not know what his future holds beyond this weekend after the club announced that manager Derek McInnes would not be in charge against Hearts on Saturday.

McInnes is due to take over at Tynecastle and after a defeat by Motherwell on Wednesday where he received some vocal criticism from supporters, Burke will now lead the side in their final league game.

"That's probably one that I can't answer," he explained, when asked if he might be a candidate for the job full-time.

"I'm new in my journey, I know things happen and things change really quickly and opportunity comes, but also the fact that I'll probably know a lot about myself after the next couple of days.

"Whether that's at the club where you are part of the first-team staff, whether I go back to my own role [as under-18 head coach], whatever it is, I'm just here to help the football club at this moment in time,

"My objective is to make sure that this football club is in the right way for the next game, so it's really difficult to answer that question and I'm giving you an honest assessment answering that."

Burke recently led the under-18 squad to Scottish Youth Cup success with his son Cole part of that squad.

He revealed his pride after seeing him make his first-team debut late on in the midweek defeat to Motherwell.

"It was a very proud moment," he beamed. "Myself, my wife, my parents were there, my auntie was there.

"As a parent you're thinking 'yes', all the emotions of that are brilliant.

"[It] just puts me under a wee bit more under pressure now to maybe include him in the squad.

"If you're asking me as a father, obviously it's a proud moment."

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Kilmarnock caretaker manager Chris Burke has been speaking with the media after it was revealed that Derek McInnes would not be in charge for their final Premiership match at home to Hearts.

Here are the key points from his news conference:

• Burke insists the club should be thankful for what departing boss Derek McInnes achieved at the club and once emotion is taken out of it, everyone can reflect on the success over that time.

• He pointed to McInnes' first game being against Queen of the South through to taking on FC Copenhagen in Europe, saying it highlights "the achievements that he's done at the football club".

• The former Killie and Rangers midfielder insists he is simply there to "help the players" before a match against a good team in the Tynecastle club.

• Having enjoyed success leading the youth team, Burke said he couldn't answer whether he saw himself as part of the first-team coaching set-up going forward. "I'm new in my journey, I know things happen and things change really quickly and opportunity comes," he explained.

• Burke expects to "know a lot" about himself by the end of the week.

• "Whether that's at the club where you are part of the first team staff, whether I go back to my own role, whatever it is, I'm just here to help the football club," Burke said, when asked about his future.

• Burke also revealed his pride at seeing his son Cole make his debut for the club as a late substitute in the defeat to Motherwell, adding that "puts me under a wee bit more under pressure now to maybe include him in the squad".

We asked for your views on Kilmarnock's 3-0 defeat against Motherwell.

Here's what some of you said:

Archie: What an embarrassing last few days for our club. I'm genuinely disgusted. For 60 years I've followed Kilmarnock and I have never seen such despicable behaviour. Derek McInnes talks of how he always puts Killie first? Don't make me laugh. I'll be glad to see the back of him. Where was he post-match? Billy Bowie should come out from under the woodwork for once and explain the situation because it's a complete and utter shambles.

Alastair: We played like we played over the last few seasons. McInnes was the man at the right time for us, but it certainly is his time at Kilmarnock to finish. No point in us berating him, we shouldn't be like that, instead we should be looking forward to a new manager with new ideas to put us back up where we should be.

Anna: What a gutless performance, it's like they weren't even trying to win the game, seeing as how they were already safe. No complaints about the Robbie Deas red card. Too many lacklustre performances and European football didn't help our cause. Seemed rather cowardly to get the assistant manager to comment after the game when McInnes should have done so. It was like he didn't have the bottle to face the press after an awful performance like that.

Scott: The game was a complete sideshow to the mess that McInnes has created over the last week. If he wanted to see out the season at Killie, he needed to say nothing other than that he's the Killie manager and completely focused on finishing the season strongly with us. Nothing about Hearts until the season is over, but instead, he's created a circus. Paul Sheerin's post-match comments were embarrassing and patronising to the fans, too. We aren't the bad guys, and this pair simply can't be in the dugout on Sunday.

James: Disappointing result, just ran out of steam in the last few minutes. I think Hearts and, to a certain extent, the media have treated Kilmarnock with total disrespect. They could easily have waited until next week to make their approach for McInnes, clearly an attempt to disrupt Kilmarnock's preparations for the last two games. Killie are certainly in a better position than when McInnes arrived, and I just hope the next manager can take us forward.

Graeme: Derek has punched above his weight at Killie. Unfortunately, we have to accept that Hearts are a bigger club, not a better club, than we are and he deserves the chance to go there and progress both Hearts and himself. Future Scotland or Premiership manager, maybe? Good luck to him, but glad he won't be in the away dugout on Sunday.

Watch highlights as Motherwell win 3-0 against Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership.

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Corrie Ndaba says his Killie colleagues "don't really stress too much" about the current managerial situation at the club, with Derek McInnes set to depart for Hearts.

McInnes is currently negotiating personal terms with the Tynecastle club and will complete a move to Gorgie once the season concludes, should those terms be agreed.

However, Ndaba is fully focused on finishing the season on a high, as they prepare for their final home game of the season, against Hearts.

We want to win every game," the defender said, looking ahead to the final match of the season, following their 3-0 drubbing away from home against Motherwell.

"Especially the last game of the season at home for the fans, give them something to cheer about."

Before their game at Fir Park, many Kilmarnock fans told BBC Scotland they'd prefer McInnes to step aside now and were concerned about him taking charge of the side against his soon-to-be-employers on Sunday.

"You know, all I know is he's our manager right now," Nbada said when this was put to him.

"So he's got to focus on Kilmarnock, so all we can do is focus on the job we have to do and win games.

"We know he's a top manager. You know, it's natural for clubs to want top managers, top players or whatever, but we don't really stress too much about these things.

"We just obviously focus on our job."

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• Lennon Miller has assisted 8 goals in the Premiership this season (1 in this game), more than any other Motherwell player.

• Callum Slattery has scored 6 goals in the Premiership this season (1 in this game), no Motherwell player has more.

• Stephen O'Donnell attempted 93 passes in this game, the highest total for a Motherwell player in the Premiership this season.

• Motherwell have beaten Kilmarnock for the first time in the Premiership since 26th August 2023, a run of 5 games without a win.

• Kilmarnock have failed to score in 12 of their 37 games, only Ross County (15) have failed to score more often in the Premiership this season.

• Motherwell have attempted 579 passes in this game, their highest total in a single match in the Premiership this season.

Kilmarnock suffered a heavy defeat in what seems set to be Derek McInnes' penultimate game as manager, as three late goals from Luke Armstrong and Callum Slattery gave Motherwell an ultimately comfortable Scottish Premiership victory.

What did you make of that, Kilmarnock fans? Has the manner of McInnes' potential exit irked you?

Let us know your thoughts.

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Kilmarnock assistant manager Paul Sheerin tells BBC Scotland: "The manager made his point in the press before the game and in the lead up, so we know his stance on the situation. That's the only reason I'm stood here.

"Our structure was good, our shape was good, we nullified them to very few chances. Once we lose the first goal, we lose our discipline in terms of shape and lose a couple quickly after that.

"There's walks of life where you work your notice and nothing is really said about it. It's part and parcel of people's contracts. The manager has done everything he can to be in the dugout for the last couple of games, he's stressed that to the players - he'd love to be here.

"He's got a brilliant relationship with the club and always has. If it all to go through and be finalised, he's leaving them in a far better place than what they were.

"I understand their frustrations and there is an awkwardness about it. We can't get away from that. But I'm sure the manager will do his best for the club."