Stephen Kingsley's 85th-minute strike denied Kilmarnock a debut home Scottish Premiership win of the season - but Hearts' search for a first league victory outside Edinburgh since January goes on.

It looked as though Neil McCann's side - who secured their first league win at Easter Road against Hibernian on Tuesday - were going to make it back-to-back wins until Kingsley lashed through a congested six-yard box.

His Hearts' team-mate Jamie McCart will be grateful, given his own-goal appeared set to be the winner for long enough.

The defender and centre-back partner Stuart Findlay - who was hooked after 32 minutes - were both caught by an over-the-top ball, which Kilmarnock's Joe Hugill streaked on to.

As the striker made to shoot, McCart lunged in and prodded past his own goalkeeper - just minutes after Hearts had a goal contentiously disallowed.

Kilmarnock centre-back Cathal McCarthy diverted Laurent Mendy's attempt to bundle in into his own net. The Hearts midfielder was guilty of handball, but it wasn't clear whether his effort was on-target.

It appeared to be a situation very similar to Harry Maguire's goal against Ipswich - but a different outcome was delivered. Going by their guidance, VAR judged that it was goal-bound and the goalscorer was penalised.

It was no doubt a confusing and frustrating moment for Wouter Vrankcen's side, who continued to dominate play.

However, they were disjointed, only creating one clear-cut chance when unmarked substitute JJ Williams inexplicably headed high after getting the run off his man.

The American had another couple of late opportunities, but his blushes were spared when Kingsley's lash nestled in the bottom corner.

Often, a point against Hearts would not be sniffed at. But this will feel like a defeat.

Minutes away from a precious three points, another clean sheet and a move off the foot of the table, the late sucker-punch will be a hard pill to swallow.

Calum Ferrie was thrust in for his league start since joining in the summer, due to Max Stryjek picking up an injury in the midweek win, and he was seldom troubled, despite Hearts' mounting pressure.

There were a few hairy-scary moments when attempting to build from the back - James Wilson pounced when a heavy touch was taken - but when anything entered his area, Ferrie was commanding and controlled.

There was plenty justified attention on Kilmarnock's knack of shipping goals at the start of the season, but just one conceded in two games against the against the teams from the capital is a sign things are being shored up.

They played to their strengths and showed more of the steeliness that got them out of the precarious position they were in last season.

This lengthy international break might just be coming at the wrong team for McCann and co.

As was the case in Tuesday's defeat by Falkirk, Hearts backline were all over the place and they very nearly paid the price for it.

The full-backs were switched - with Christian Borchgrevink and captain Stephen Kingsley starting - but the centre-back pairing of Jamie McCart and Stuart Findlay were again poor, with Kilmarnock targeting them.

That's surely what led to the latter's early substitution, with Kingsley shifting inside and Harry Milne replacing him at left-back.

Ferrie regularly kicked long and, though one of the defender, usually won the initial header, it almost always sparked an attack or promising free-kick for the hosts. It left Vrancken furious, turning back to his bench in disgust.

The leveller was an all-too familiar scene for supporters - all 3,500 who travelled down - and it will no doubt frustrate Vrancken and his staff at their slackness.

There's little he can do with the injuries he has, but something has to change over the international break otherwise their soft core could be extremely costly.

In truth, their midfield wasn’t much better, with Tomas Magnusson struggling to show why he was brought back in.

What will still serve to be a frustrating game, they eventually got what their dominance deserved. But their profligacy and poor defending will need attention paid to.

Kilmarnock manager Neil McCann: "I think the boys put so much into the game and you get to 80-odd minutes and think you can see it out.

"We probably should have dealt with it better for the equaliser but I said to them I can't be too disappointed.

"I'm steadfast in my belief this team will get better as the season goes on.

"I thought in the first half we were really hard to break down. Hearts have been on a good run up until midweek. We knew they'd ask us a lot of questions and so the togetherness at that point is really important."

Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken: "I cannot blame the referee because it's a VAR decision. They were told the goalscorer made a handball but the VAR have to see the defender puts it in the net. It's a big decision to make when it's so clear.

"We were not efficient enough in the box. We made a big mistake [for the goal]. In the second half we tried to change things and I thought we were good. We created a lot of chances but we had to score more today. One issue for today was efficiency.

"When you lose, like at Falkirk on Tuesday, you can accept those things because you were so bad, the opponent was better, these things happen in sport. But today, we had a lot of chances to win it."