Derek McInnes believes anyone questioning his side’s mentality, “hasn’t been watching”, as Hearts turn their attention to Fir Park on Saturday evening.

Hearts sit on the edge of immortality, aiming to break the Old Firm’s domestic dominance for the first time since 1985, but McInnes insists his only focus is Motherwell, who will pose another test for his side.

“We can’t get obsessed with all the different connotations and what happens there if we win that one and they win that one,

“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.”

Hearts came from a goal down on Monday evening, delivering a haymaker blow to Rangers’ title charge. McInnes’ lauded his side’s consistent ability to manage the expectations in Gorgie.

“It goes without saying, regardless of how this season plays out, you don’t, at Hearts, get to 76 points with three games to go if you’ve not got a good mentality, because there’s pressures at this club that you need to deal with.

“There’s an insistence on winning games here and an expectation, so the players have answered that time and time again.”

“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.”

A pivotal ten days await the Jambos, with trips to Fir Park and Parkhead sandwiched between Falkirk’s visit to Tynecastle. McInnes’ side will no doubt continue to relish their title challenge.

“Now we’re going to have three games in a week that, for all we’ve done, will decide how it all plays out.”