Derek McInnes confident Hearts players can handle title pressure

Derek McInnes believes anyone still questioning whether Hearts have the courage to handle the heat of a title race has not been paying attention.

The Jambos have been top of the William Hill Premiership for more than seven months and are now three points clear of second-placed Celtic with a superior goal difference.

With just three games to go of their stunning bid for a first top-flight title in 66 years, McInnes said his team – who have won tense matches against Motherwell, Hibernian and Rangers in recent weeks – are now way past the point where their credentials can be doubted.

“I think anybody who questions the mentality now hasn’t been watching us, regardless of how this season plays out,” said McInnes, who was named Scottish Premiership Glen’s Manager of the Season on Thursday.

“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.”

Despite Hearts being under intense scrutiny as they strive to become the first club outside Rangers or Celtic to win the Scottish title since 1985, McInnes insisted everyone inside the dressing room remains “pretty relaxed”.

“We have conversations that aren’t about the games and the season,” he said.

“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.”

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,” said McInnes, whose side visit Motherwell on Saturday night before Celtic host Rangers on Sunday.

“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.”