Jimmy Calderwood, the Aberdeen manager, has urged his players not to allow another opportunity to leapfrog Heart of Midlothian to pass them by. His side face Kilmarnock in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League after the match was postponed on December 6 because of a frozen pitch and a win over Jim Jefferies’ side would move them into fourth place, one point ahead of Hearts.

Calderwood’s side are still smarting from failing to capitalise on Hearts dropping two points in the Edinburgh derby in their last SPL outing, when they lost 2-0 to Hamilton Academical, and Calderwood said: “We know if we win we will go up to fourth, which is a great incentive for the players.

“A win against Kilmarnock would also bring us to within two points of Dundee United, which would set us up nicely for our next two games against Celtic and Rangers at Pittodrie.”

Calderwood is aware, though, that Aberdeen must play far better than in their 2-1 victory over Alloa Athletic on Saturday in the fourth round of the Homecoming Scottish Cup if they are to leave Rugby Park with all three points.

Sone Aluko grabbed the winner but not before Andy Scott had given the second division side a glimmer of hope when his penalty cancelled out Lee Miller’s opener.

“We started well against Alloa but for some strange reason we took our foot off the pedal,” Calderwood said. “We missed a few chances to kill the game off and our passing became sloppy, which gave Alloa a lift. There were a few scary moments.”

Jefferies, meanwhile, has an agenda of his own tonight. He wants his players to rediscover their home form and fire the Ayrshire side into the top six with victory. Kilmarnock can leapfrog Hibernian into sixth spot and Jefferies said: “It’s a very, very important game. If we win, we get into the top six. That is incentive enough.

“Our record at home needs to improve. We have played well in some of these home games. It’s just when you play at home, with the respect we get, teams frustrate us. But Aberdeen are not that type of team — they will come at you and expect to win down here.”

Kilmarnock’s fourth-round cup replay against Ayr United has been moved back to Thursday, January 22 to accommodate live coverage from Sky Sports.