After what feels like an eternity, domestic football returns on Saturday. The extended international break felt more like a mini-close season just as the Scottish Premiership was getting warmed up. With many players recharged and having spent time in warmer climes, all 12 top-flight teams get back at it this weekend.
The first of this season's mid-season hiatuses may have been regarded as somewhat bittersweet at Rangers. After six straight wins, a bit of R&R may have been just the ticket for Derek McInnes' squad. That said, with confidence high, momentum built from those wins may be difficult to recapture, at least straight away.
Kilmarnock are Saturday's visitors to Ibrox, seeking to be the first away league side to score there since early August. Neil McCann's side got a bit of a boost before the break with some positive domestic results, including a win away to Hibernian and holding Aberdeen and last season's runners-up Hearts to draws. The duel between one-time Rangers and Scotland team-mates McInnes and McCann will be an interesting one.
New manager Marink Reedijk takes charge of Hibs in a match for the first time on Saturday, with Dundee United the opponents. The Dutchman may have preferred to open his reign at home, but he should have a decent travelling support at Tannadice. Hibs are third bottom of the league - a point above Falkirk and two above Kilmarnock - and Reedijk has not had the benefit of a transfer window, having joined late last month.
David Gray left behind a squad with plenty of Premiership experience and one or two exciting young talents, like striker Owen Elding. What 35-year-old Reedijk will bring to the division will become clearer come Saturday evening, but he has promised "brave, intense and committed" football. Leith will be watching with prying eyes.
Hearts' season has come a cropper in recent weeks with defeat in Falkirk and a draw away to Kilmarnock. Hardly a crisis, but Wouter Vrancken's side will not want the stutter to carry on when St Mirren visit Tynecastle on Saturday. The Paisley side had a buoyant start to the season but have struggled over their past three games, losing on each occasion.
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