Australian right-back Nathaniel Atkinson is making his Hearts debut after his move from Melbourne City and manager Robbie Neilson is keen to see how he performs.

Neilson is also delighted with the return of top striker Liam Boyce from injury.

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Auchinleck Talbot manager Tommy Sloan tells BBC Scotland he hopes home advantage will help his side.

"Hopefully it will be significant. It's a tighter pitch than Tynecastle. Hopefully we can get in about them and cause a few problems.

"We can't give them time to play today. We really need to get in about them. They're going to have the majority of the ball but hopefully that brings them up the pitch a bit. But we've got good players."

Hearts manager Robbie Neilson insists John Souttar is missing from the defence because of an injury rather than transfer talks with Rangers.

"At the present time, he is a Hearts player and I don't see that changing," he tells BBC Scotland.

Julie Fleeting
Former Scotland striker on BBC Scotland

Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon says his side will use last season's shock exit to Highland League side Brora Rangers as motivation today.

"We don't need to look so far into the past to see what can happen," he tells BBC Scotland.

"We want to progress in this competition and there have been a lot of changes in personnel since then. It's the one everybody wants to win."

So who are Auchinleck?

The side from the Ayrshire village with a population of under 4,000 have become the most successful junior side in recent seasons, winning the Scottish Junior Cup 13 times.

They are unbeaten in eight home games since junior sides were allowed into the senior Scottish Cup and have won all but two of their 16 games on their own patch this season - losing just once.

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It's not the first time Hearts and Auchinleck have done battle in the cup - but they have never before played at the junior side's home fortress in Ayrshire.

They met for the first time almost 10 years ago, when Gordon Smith spared the Edinburgh side's blushes with six minutes remaining by taking advantage of a defensive mix-up to score the only goal.

It was more convincing three years ago, when Hearts eased to a 4-0 win through goals from Christophe Berra, Demetri Mitchell, Steven MacLean and Aidan Keena.

As for Rangers fans. Do you want your club to pay a fee for John Souttar to take him in January or are you happy to wait to get him for free in the summer?

Thumbs up for paying now. Thumbs down for waiting until the end of the season.

Hearts are insisting that John Souttar misses out today because of an injury rather than anything to do with transfer talks with Rangers.

The Ibrox club apparently want to pay £300,000 to take the centre-half from their Premiership rivals during January.

Hearts, though, want around £500,000 - and probably a sell-on clause too if they are smart.

So what do Hearts fans, who gave Souttar a hard time the other night, want? Should they hold on to their key player or cash in now?

Thumbs up for sell him. Thumbs down to keep him.

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Auchinleck are unchanged from the side that defeated Irvine Meadow 3-2 in the Scottish Junior Cup.

Some big news already this morning involving Hearts.

John Souttar, who this week signed a pre-contract agreement to join Rangers in the summer, has been left out of Robbie Neilson's squad to face Auchinleck today.

That's amid continuing talks between the two Premiership clubs over a potential January transfer for the Scotland centre-half.

A few options for you as the BBC coverage begins.

The build-up to the game at Beechwood Park has just started on BBC One Scotland.

Meanwhile, Sportsound coverage is about to begin on BBC Radio Scotland MW and digital as Stuart Cosgrove and Tam Cowan provide their wit and wisdom on Off The Ball on FM.

You can access all of them by clicking the links at the top of this page.

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Welcome to the BBC's bumper coverage of 14 Scottish Cup fourth-round ties across TV, radio and online.

First up at 12:30 GMT is Heart of Midlothian's potentially hazardous trip to face crack junior outfit Auchinleck Talbot, a game that's live on all outlets.

Meanwhile, there some important games in the Championship and League 1.

Stay with us for the build-up, live coverage and post-match reaction.

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