Derek McInnes is not expected to take charge of Hearts for Wednesday night's clash with St Johnstone, it has emerged.
The Jambos are poised to approach Kilmarnock for permission to speak to their manager after identifying him as the man they want to take over from Neil Critchley, with Liam Fox currently taking temporary control.
It was thought there was a chance the 53-year-old would make the move in time to lead his new charges as they face the relegation-threated Saints at Tynecastle midweek.
But our sister site, Hearts Standard, has shone some light on the situation. And McInnes is now not expected to be the man in charge on Wednesday night, with Fox carrying on with his interim duties for now. The 41-year-old is set to conduct media duties tomorrow ahead of that one.
That leaves open the possibility of McInnes making the switch later in the week and his first game in charge of the Jambos being against his current club Kilmarnock on Saturday, should he take the job.
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Fox had earlier taken the team after Steven Naismith's sacking and has won two from two during his current interim spell, beating Ross County 3-1 first of all and then Motherwell 3-0 at the weekend.
Speaking after Saturday's win at Tynecastle, he said: At this moment in time, we've got a day off tomorrow (Sunday) and we're back in on Monday and that until somebody tells me any different, that is where it's at.
"I think it's important today that we talk about the players and the performance and the result that we put on and my situation and the management situation will clear itself up when we have something to tell you."
