Dundee United v Hearts: Billy Brown calls for more leadership on the pitch as Hearts seek to bounce back from cup exit and maintain pressure on Old Firm

HEARTS travel to Tannadice today knowing they must bounce back quickly from their Scottish Cup exit if they are to meet the challenge of their most difficult run of games of the season. A home defeat by St Johnstone on Tuesday night was the Edinburgh club's first loss in ten games, and they will have to regain their best form immediately if they are to keep up the pressure on the Old Firm.

Third at present, they are two points behind Rangers, whom they meet twice in the next few weeks. With games against Celtic, Kilmarnock and St Johnstone again coming up, they need all their players to be at their best.

Kevin Kyle is expected to play against Dundee United today after receiving an injection to treat a groin injury, but it remains to be seen whether he can play with enough freedom of movement to cause the home team real problems. Rudi Skacel, meanwhile, will miss out, as he did on Tuesday, as a muscle tear in his calf needs longer to heal. Those two have been key performers for Hearts throughout their unbeaten league run, but assistant manager Billy Brown believes others must also be ready to play a leadership role. "There's no doubt about it, we've had a good run playing a certain way with certain players," Brown said. "The likes of Kyle and Skacel are a big part of our machine.

"We took a gamble with Kevin the other night. He thought he could get through it, but he couldn't and it altered the way we played.

"Him and Skacel are important and when they don't feature it alters the way we play, but losing players is part and parcel of football. We have plenty players and we just have to get on with it. It wasn't just that one or two players were missing (against St Johnstone]. The whole team had a bad night. It was our first defeat in ten games and if we can come through the next ten with just one defeat and one bad performance we'll take it.

"We had a bad night. St Johnstone made it difficult for us. If you lose in the league you can get back quickly. You don't have the option of that in the cup and losing was a big blow for us.

"Looking at the list of games, we are away to Dundee United and Kilmarnock, home to Rangers, away to Celtic, home to St Johnstone and away to Rangers - it's a fair run of games. What you will find out at the end of that run is if we're genuine contenders for the top three."

If Kyle is only able to play for part of the match, as was the case in midweek, Hearts will have to adapt their game plan - something Brown is confident they can do. "The opposition's key issue is mainly how to stop Kyle. But we do have other players who can come in and make up for that.

"You never know how we are going to do, but at the start of the season we didn't play with Kevin at Hamilton and we won 4-0. He's been instrumental in us winning games, but we're confident we can cope. The one thing Hearts don't lack is player numbers.It's great to have everyone fit, but most clubs don't have that and we're no different."

United's David Goodwillie is an entirely different kind of striker to Kyle, being more akin to Hearts' Stephen Elliott, but he has become a talisman for his team. Brown warned, however, that Hearts would have to do a lot more this afternoon than concentrate on negating just one individual.

"He's still a young lad and has scored a lot of goals," he said of Goodwillie. "He's a good player and puts himself about. We'll have to watch him carefully, but they have one or two other good players. We tend to concentrate more on our side and what it's doing."

While the loss of Skacel and diminution of Kyle's powers will obviously be a concern for Hearts, full-back Lee Wallace is ready to return from long-term injury, and winger Andy Driver is not far away from making his comeback.

"Lee would have been on the bench and come on against St Johnstone, but he's had the flu," Brown explained. "He should be back now. The weather has inhibited Andy's comeback because getting out on grass has been very difficult."

Goodwillie underlined his importance to United in the midweek win over Motherwell and is unaffected by speculation linking him with a move away from Tannadice, according to first-team coach Gary Kirk. Rangers, Blackpool, Swansea and Bristol City have been linked with bids for the 21-year-old striker, who could depart cash-strapped United this month if a club match the 1.5 million valuation.

United were given a glimpse of the future without Goodwillie in the 0-0 draw with Ross County in the Scottish Cup last weekend, but the striker returned from suspension to score his 12th goal of the season in Wednesday night's SPL defeat of Motherwell. It was the Scotland international's fourth goal in three games ahead of the clash with Hearts.

United first-team coach Kirk said: "He's a big player for this club. We'd love to hold on to him. I think we missed him last Saturday. When you put the ball up top you know you're going to get something - he's going to get a chance or a shot away on goal."

Asked how Goodwillie, who always appears to be full of confidence, was coping with the speculation, Kirk added: "He's all right. Goodie just gets on with it - it doesn't affect him at all."

Winger Craig Conway also made his return as a substitute on Wednesday, however he is likely to stay on the bench today.

• Dundee United's rearranged SPL match with Rangers, which was postponed on 28 November, will now take place on 3 March at 7.45pm.