Live Commentary

Shiels staying grounded ahead of Hearts test Kenny Shiels is hoping his Kilmarnock side do not get too carried away with their morale-boosting Clydesdale Bank Premier League victory over Hibernian last week when Hearts visit Rugby Park on Sunday. The 4-1 win was the Irishman's first in 11 attempts as Killie boss and the performance earned rave reviews. Shiels admitted both the result and the way it was achieved had given him satisfaction as he savoured his side's unbeaten start to the season, but warned against reading too much in to it. "There is a thin line between confidence and over-confidence," he said. "We have a confident mood and we have to keep it like that. "But we want to look at the mistakes we made in the Hibs game that weren't punished and try to get them eliminated from our performance. Those are big things for us. "We are almost where we want to be as far as the playing staff is concerned. "We filled our boots with that and now we are looking to try to develop a good understanding of how we play for each game and each set of opponents. "The next game is always the most important and that's what we prepare for." In similarly cautious style, Shiels will not extrapolate too much from Hearts' thrashing at the hands of Tottenham at Tynecastle on Thursday night. The Gorgie side were hammered 5-0 by the Londoners in their Europa League play-off first-leg tie to effectively end their interest in the competition this season. "The first thing I would do is to be realistic," said Shiels. "It was really difficult for Hearts against a Tottenham team who are from a totally different planet. "But we are from the same league as Hearts and we are around the standard of play that they can match up to. "You can use case history where players have come back from a poor result in Europe and done really well in the next game and you have had the opposite effect but we won`t know that until we get on the pitch and see how determined they are." Shiels is likely to be without two important players. David Silva is definitely out with medial ligament damage while Zdenek Kroca is very doubtful with a virus. Shiels' new signing, 29-year-old Slovenian Leon Panikvar, will not be included in the squad. Hearts midfielder Ryan Stevenson insists he took some enjoyment from the defeat by Tottenham as he put the game into context. Stevenson, who was playing for Ayr two years ago, took the positives from pitting himself against top Barclays Premier League players. The likes of Rafael van der Vaart, Gareth Bale and Jermain Defoe were on the scoresheet as Spurs showed their class at Tynecastle. "The way they were knocking the ball about, you were trying to get near them and at times you thought you were getting close, but you weren't really," Stevenson said. "They are top-class players. You look to see how far off you are from that sort of level and that shows how good these teams in the Premiership are. "When you sit at home watching them on the TV you think 'they're good players' but when you actually play against them you realise how good they are. "Every single player they had was top-drawer. (Niko) Kranjcar, who I thought was outstanding, struggles to get a game for them. That just shows you the quality they have. "It was a harsh lesson for us but it was bittersweet - it was enjoyable at the same time." When asked what his hopes were for the second leg of the play-off on Thursday, Stevenson said: "To score six. No, just to go down and enjoy it. "People think it's hard - there are people fighting on the front line in Afghanistan and people working nine-to-five jobs. You have to take the positives from everything in life. "We had a great game, a great crowd, it was enjoyable playing against them. Next week we are looking forward to going to White Hart Lane and we'll try to put on a better show." Hearts first have to face unbeaten Kilmarnock and will aim to do better than Edinburgh rivals Hibernian did at Rugby Park seven days earlier. Killie cruised to a 4-1 victory as Shiels' new-look team clicked on their third SPL match of the season. Hearts manager Paulo Sergio said: "If they score four goals it's because they have quality. "We know they have a good team and we have to be good to get a good result there." Ian Black is again suspended and will serve the second game of a two-match domestic ban in the only likely change from the squad defeated by Spurs in a match which saw Andy Webster and David Obua return from injury. Mehdi Taouil (groin) is likely to miss a return to Rugby Park.