Hearts make approach for Kilmarnock’s McInnes

Heart of Midlothian have opened talks with Kilmarnock as the Edinburgh club bid to secure Derek McInnes as their new team boss.

Hearts have identified the former Aberdeen and St Johnstone manager as their preferred candidate to succeed Neil Critchley.

Both Hearts and Kilmarnock have yet to reach an agreement over the 53-year-old Scot, and are due to face one another in the final game of the season on Sunday.

His Kilmarnock team beat Dundee 3-2 on Saturday to secure Premiership safety with a third straight victory in what has been an otherwise difficult season.

In the aftermath of the win, McInnes would not be drawn on the reports linking him with a move to Tynecastle, saying there had been “no contact from club to club”.

Having sacked Critchley and Steven Naismith during a season in which they failed to finish in the Premiership’s top six, Hearts have identified a candidate whose experience as a manager in Scotland started when he took St Johnstone to the top flight in 2009.

After a brief stint at Bristol City, he then had seven years with Aberdeen, with whom he never finished lower than fourth and won the League Cup in 2014.

McInnes departed Pittodrie in 2021 and took charge of Kilmarnock the following January, leading them to promotion back to the top flight and keeping them up on their return.

His spell at Rugby Park peaked last season when he guided the Ayrshire side to fourth place and European football.

Hearts themselves have had a turbulent season that started with their worst-ever beginning to a campaign and cost Naismith his job.

Critchley steered the club away from the bottom of the table but failed to get them into the top six and was dismissed, since when they have have moved up to seventh place again following two victories under caretaker Liam Fox.