Hearts boss Derek McInnes has fired back at critics who doubted his team’s ability to hold their nerve in the Premiership title race.
McInnes insists that any naysayers who still claim Hearts might buckle under the pressure simply have not been paying attention.
A thunderous 2-1 victory over Rangers at Tynecastle on Monday night has put Hearts on the brink of their first league title in 66 years.
Top of the table for the majority of the season, the Gorgie side are three points clear of Celtic, whilst also boasting a superior goal difference, with just three games left to play.
Having come from behind on three occasions in recent weeks to beat Rangers, Hibs and Motherwell, McInnes is adamant their credentials can no longer be doubted.
‘I think anybody who questions the mentality now hasn’t been watching us, regardless of how this season plays out,’ said the Hearts manager.
Hearts boss Derek McInnes with the Premiership Manager of the Year Award
The Hearts manager insists his leaders have more than proven they have a strong mentality
‘At Hearts, you don’t get to 76 points with three games to go if you’ve not got a good mentality because there’s pressures at this club.
‘There’s an insistence on winning games here and an expectation. The players have answered that time and time again.
‘We’ve had positive results against both Rangers and Celtic, positive results in the derbies, we’re strong at home. So with all these things, the mentality is never in question.’
McInnes, who has been named Premiership Manager of the Year to go along with the PFA Scotland award he picked up last week, takes his side to face Motherwell tomorrow night.
Trying to make history by becoming the first non-Old Firm club to win the Scottish league title since 1985, he insists the mood in the camp remains very calm.
‘We have conversations that aren’t about the games and the season,’ he continued.
‘It’s just normal conversations you would try and have to keep that as normal as possible.
‘Normally days off can be a chance to switch off but with the greatest will in the world, it’s hard to do that at the minute, particularly because there’s not many training days now.
‘Now we’re going to have three games in a week that, for all we’ve done, will decide how it all plays out.’
McInnes and striker Lawrence Shankland enjoy a monumental 2-1 victory over Rangers
Claudio Braga and Alexandros Kyziridis go through their paces in training
Hearts could clinch the title as early as next Wednesday, when they host Falkirk, but they are guaranteed at worst a final-day shootout with Celtic.
‘We can’t get obsessed with all the different connotations and what happens there if we win that one and they win that one.
‘That’s not our thinking, I’ve no time for that. The message to the players is just concentrate on trying to win against Motherwell.
‘They haven’t beaten us this season, but they’ve been problematic for most teams.
‘In all three games, they could have beaten us, but we’ve managed to do our job well enough for long enough in all the games to pick up points.’
McInnes hopes to have key duo Harry Milne and Cammy Devlin back from injury.
‘I’m hopeful of getting one, if not two,’ he said. ‘I said that last week as well and I was serious, I’m not being clever. Hopefully we can see them on Saturday.’
