Kilmarnock are in deep trouble at the foot of the table despite collecting a battling point at Hearts.

Bobby Williamson's side fought for a deserved draw at Tynecastle, but Aberdeen's demolition of Hibs cast the Ayrshire side further adrift at the bottom.

Hearts also left the field a dejected bunch although they had the consolation of leap-frogging their city rivals and moving into fifth place in the table.

Jim Jefferies men controlled long spells of the contest especially in the first-half but displayed a lack of cutting edge which, ultimately, cost them maximum points.

The bottom side were high in confidence going into the game after registering their first League win in 14 attempts at Motherwell four days previously.

But it was Hearts who started the brighter and French full-back Fabian Leclercq set the pace with a dipping long-range drive which flew narrowly over in the opening seconds.

Hearts displayed sharp passing and inventive movement in the opening stages without creating many clear-cut openings and it took Kilmarnock almost 15 minutes of the game to get a sight of the home side's goal.

When they eventually did, it wasn't worth the wait as Ally Mitchell blasted wildly over the bar after good work from Gary Holt.

The return of goalkeeper Gordon Marshall from injury in midweek gave Kilmarnock a massive lift but, ironically, his dreadful blunder almost gifted Hearts the lead after 19 minutes.

The former Celtic number one made a terrible attempt to clear a back-pass and spooned the ball hopelessly into the path of ex-Parkhead colleague Darren Jackson.

The striker displayed terrific awareness to send an instant first-time lob back over the stranded keeper, but Marshall watched with relief as the effort drifted wide.

Referee George Simpson incensed the home camp when he waved away strong penalty claims after Tosh McKinlay's last-gasp tackle send Colin Cameron sprawling in the penalty area.

They were further enraged when Killie defender Jim Lauchlan, who had earlier been booked for a scything tackle on Jackson, escaped a second yellow card for a late challenge on Gary Wales.

Killie boss Williamson, however, sensed his defender was walking a tightrope with the officials and immediately sent on Sean Hessey to replace the centre-half.

Despite their early domination Hearts failure to capitalise led to a loss of momentum and Killie grew in confidence as the first period drew to a close.

The strike paring of Frenchmen Chrisophe Cocard and Samassi Abou were beginning to have more influence on the contest and the on-loan West Ham star signalled the revival with a brilliant curling effort in first-half stoppage time which dropped inches over the crossbar.

The pace continued at full speed after the restart, but again chances were at a premium.

Referee Simpson waved away Hearts second strong penalty claim of the match when Kilmarnock defender Frederic Dindeleux appeared to trip Wales as they attacked a dangerous Gary Naysmith cross.

Skipper Cameron was trying to inspire his men but was wasteful on each of three good shooting chances from the edge of the penalty box.

Indeed, Hearts best chance was created by excellent refereeing from Simpson who ignored a linesman's offside flag to allow Wales a clear run on goal.

Simpson correctly adjudged that the Killie boot was last on the through ball but Wales froze in front of goal and allowed McKinlay to make a desperate last-ditch block.

As the clock ticked away it was Killie who came closest to pinching the points when Abou's header from an Ian Durrant corner was chested off the goal line by Leclercq and that ensured the scoreline remained blank.

Teams:

Hearts: Rousset, Murray, Pressley, Leclercq, Naysmith, Simpson (McSwegan 76), Cameron, Tomaschek, Flogel, Jackson,Wales.

Subs Not Used: McKenzie, Adam, Makel, Severin.

Booked: Flogel, Naysmith.

Kilmarnock: Marshall, MacPherson, Dindeleux, Lauchlan (Hessey 27), McKinlay, Reilly, Holt, Durrant, Mitchell, Abou, Cocard (Vareille 84).

Subs Not Used: Meldrum, Mahood, McCutcheon.

Booked: Lauchlan.

Att: 14,243

Ref: George Simpson (Scotland).