Craig Levein wants to be booed by Hearts fans

Craig Levein is set to return to his old stomping ground this weekend as the newly appointed St Johnstone manager prepares to take on Hearts at Tynecastle.

The 59-year-old is no stranger to the maroon and white walls of the Gorgie stadium having been both a player and manager there. While Levein has returned several times to conduct media duties, this will mark the first time he's visited the stadium as an opposition manager since his time at Dundee United in 2009.

Following a two year stint at Cowdenbeath, the former defender signed with the Jambos in 1983 and would go on to make over 400 appearances for the side in a career that lasted until 1997.

Levein soon went into management, starting with his ex-Fife team and then returning to Edinburgh in 2000. The ex-full back guided Hearts into Europe in successive season, becoming the first manager to do so since the 1960s.

After managerial stints with Leicester City, Raith Rovers, Dundee and the Scottish international side, Levein returned to Tynecastle as director of football and later first team manager. He was sacked in 2019 and his role with St Johnstone marks Levein's first return to management since parting ways with Hearts.

Speaking ahead of what will be just his third match in charge of the McDiarmid side, Levein said: "I’m looking forward to it. Obviously I’ve been back quite a few times to do games for the BBC but this will be a bit different.

“I don’t know if I’ll get booed – I would imagine I will. I would hope so anyway. I love it there. The atmosphere at Tynecastle is incredible.”

He added: “They’re striving for consistency. They’ve had some really good performances and others not quite so good. I could probably level that at every club apart from Celtic and Rangers but even they’ve been a bit sketchy at times. So I don’t know what to expect from Hearts but hopefully, I’ll get a good performance from my team.

"This last week and a bit has been beneficial because previously I had no real experience of getting to know the players because we were preparing for two games. I’ve been able to see what people can and can’t do. My big thing I suppose is ‘who can we make better in a short period of time?’”