Andy Considine is sent off on his 36th birthday.

It is eventually ruled that the centre-half pulled down Aberdeen striker Bojan Miovski, but it was just outside the penalty box.

The Dons can't make it count from the free-kick as the home wall stays firm.

First sniff of goal falls to Rangers' Ryan Jack.

A cross is headed out by Ryan Edwards to the edge of the box where Jack is lurking, but his volley drifts harmlessly wide.

Bojan Miovski goes down near the edge of the St Johnstone box and Aberdeen may have a penalty. VAR getting involved...

Ryan Strain makes an early drive down the line and his cross meets the outstretched arm of Livingston's de Lucas.

Nothing given as play continues but we're now into a long wait as referee John Beaton heads to the monitor.

VAR gets involved and a penalty is the decision.

A superb double save from Kelle Ross prevents Saints getting off to a flying start.

The goalkeeper palms a low drive following a corner from Liam Gordon and fellow defender Andy Considine is denied at the near post on the follow-up.

An early chance for the hosts. The Hearts defence fail to deal with a cross from the let and Kyle Vassell gathers before firing into the side netting.

A little shaky from the visiting defence.

Kheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland at Rugby Park

This is a big game for both sides and the atmosphere at Rugby Park highlights that. Lots of noise and a big travelling support through from Edinburgh backing Hearts - around 2,500 filling the top deck of the Chadwick Stand away to my left.

A good smattering of home fans in the other three sections of the ground means the total crowd will somewhere between 6,000 and 7,000.

Loads on the line for both sets of supporters. Those from the east wanting their side to prove they're the third best in the country. The Ayrshire contigent want to turn home draws into home wins to give themselves a chance of putting some daylight between them and the bottom two.

All to play for? You better believe it.

Games getting under way.

Kenny Crawford
BBC Sport Scotland at Dens Park

The Championship title race is a marathon, not a sprint, and one wonders whether Dundee, who have been in the slipstream of the likes of Queen’s Park and Ayr United for most of the season, are now ready to make a dash for the finish line on the home straight.

The Dark Blues trail the Spiders by four points, but have a game in hand and a lot of home matches left this campaign.

Gary Bowyer’s side welcome a buoyant Hamilton to Dens Park, after their first cup success in 30 years last weekend in winning the SPFL Trophy. John Rankin’s men are bottom of the second tier but have been showing the right kind of qualities needed for survival recently.

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Hibs go for a third straight win over Motherwell this season.

The hosts can climb into the top four while Well have an outside chance of making the top six before the split.

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One win each and a draw across the three meetings of Kilmarnock and Hearts in all competitions this season.

Hearts' form has dipped of late with three straight defeats while Killie are without a win in five.

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Though Rangers and Dundee United have been separated by a chasm of points and places for most of the season, their two meetings this term have been quite close.

The Ibrox side held on for a 2-1 win at Ibrox back in September before two second-half goals secured Rangers a win at Tannadice in January.

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With St Johnstone seven points outside the top six ahead of the Premiership split, manager Callum Davidson tells BBC Scotland he views today's home meeting with Aberdeen as "a cup final in terms of our league finish".

He has certainly rolled the dice, with five changes to his side as he was unhappy with their performance last time out.

Two wins to nil for Aberdeen against St Johnstone so far this season 1-0 in Perth in August and a 2-0 home victory in January.

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Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin has praised his team's attitude in training, and believes they can take something from today's game.

"We worked hard on the fitness side of things in the main [during the break]," he said on Sportsound. "Any group can get fitter and stronger. The boys have been great since I came in. Their attitude and application has been outstanding.

"It's always a difficult fixture. Rangers have been in good form, especially since Michael Beale took charge. You need to be disciplined and organised without the ball and offer an attacking threat as well.

"You know you're going to have large periods without possession but when we get those turnovers we need to be productive with it and get good support up to Steven Fletcher.

"We can give ourselves a good chance. We need to be ruthless."

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes tells Sportsound: "We knew it would be tough coming up this season. We're sitting in a precarious position with nine games to go but if the season was to finish now, we'd have done our job. There's still so much to do.

"The last two home performances - while we haven't won them - have been good. It's going to need at least that, if not a bit more, to beat this Hearts team. We know the situation we're in but we've got to believe we're good enough to get the job done - and I believe we are.

"We anticipated Hearts changing their shape today, but we wanted to be consistent. I wanted to reinforce how pleased I was with so much of the game against St Johnstone."

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland at SMISA Stadium

Both managers appreciate the significance of this fixture with four games to go until the top-six split.

St Mirren lie just one point adrift and only two goals behind their opponents, who have a grasp of sixth place right now.

A victory will go a long way for either, particularly St Mirren, with difficult away trips to Tynecastle and Ibrox to follow.

Expect this to be fiercely fought.

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