Our King of the North, Tyrone Smith, has headed south for an afternoon of footballing fun at McDiarmid Park. Nice to see the welcoming party got the message...

It's been another stormy week in Scottish football, with sectarianism rearing its ugly head again.

First, Kris Boyd, Kilmarnock's former Rangers striker, was verbally abused - and hit by a coin - as his side lost to Celtic.

Next up was his manager, Steve Clarke, referring to chants from the "dark ages" as his side lost their midweek Scottish Cup tie at Ibrox and revealing that fears that his Catholic upbringing could be a problem surfaced when he was considering joining Rangers as a player and manager.

Rangers chairman Dave King was the latest to weigh in with his condemnation, saying yesterday he and everyone at his club "abhors the sectarian element that continues to be so prevalent in Scottish football".

Boyd and Clarke will be expecting a less heated reception in Livingston today.

Image source, SNS

The good news for Livingston after last week's defeat by Dundee is that midfielder Stevie Lawless' yellow card for diving has been rescinded on appeal.

It was little consolation to manager Gary Holt, though, who said this week head of refereeing at the Scottish FA, John Fleming, admitted "to an extent" it should have been a penalty.

And, given the game was level at 1-1 with 13 minutes remaining when Lawless went down, it may have cost Livi precious points.

Dundee scored a winner six minutes later. "Every man, dog, woman, boy, granny, grandpa knew it was a penalty apart from the referee," Holt said.

Image source, SNS

St Johnstone can immediately recapture sixth place ahead of Hibs with at least a point at home to Aberdeen.

But the visitors will be out to narrow the gap with second-top Rangers, who play tomorrow along with leaders Celtic, to two points.

It's not long ago that Kilmarnock were top, but Steve Clarke's side are now back in fourth, one place behind the Dons, as they visit Livingston.

Fifth-placed Hearts are now within three points of Killie as they host bottom side St Mirren.

Image source, BBC Sport

Some added spice is added to Aberdeen's visit to McDiarmid Park by manager Derek McInnes' admission yesterday that he is in talks with St Johnstone centre-half Joe Shaughnessy about a return to Pittodrie this summer.

The 26-year-old, whose younger brother, Conor, is on loan to Rangers from Leeds United, left Aberdeen for Perth after signing a pre-contract agreement in 2015.

But McInnes has told newspapers that he never wanted Shaughnessy to leave Pittodrie - and now wants him back - although Saints manager Tommy Wright will obviously be keen to secure his captain on a new deal.

Shaughnessy could team up with fellow former Republic of Ireland Under-21 international Tommie Hoban at Pittodrie.

The 25-year-old has returned to Watford from Aberdeen after his season-long loan was cut short by the second cruciate ligament injury of his career, but McInnes says he is keen to bring the centre-half back permanently.

Links to those stories - and more - can be found in today's Scottish Gossip.

The elongated Scottish Premiership weekend continues with three more games this afternoon and let's hope we are treated to more foal fests like last night's.

Hibernian travelled to Dens Park and overpowered Dundee 4-2 to move into the top six as Paul Heckingbottom recorded his second straight win as head coach - highlights of which you can watch below.

Stay with us for the build-up, live commentary and post-match reaction on BBC Radio Scotland 810MW and online.