Amid rising title talk, Derek McInnes insists Hearts have to “concentrate on winning games of football” when they resume their campaign against Kilmarnock on Saturday evening.
Addressing the media on Thursday, McInnes observed a sense of “calm” within the squad ahead of a defining run of games.
“It’s down to the efforts of the players, how well they’ve done. The focus has been great. The last couple of games have really pleased us in the sense that we’ve got the desired outcome.
“But the performances have been good as well. We just need to refocus on the next challenge.”
“If we can replicate a lot of what we’ve done between the start of the season and now, then we’ll put ourselves in with a chance. But with nine games to go, there’s still almost a quarter of the season, 27 points to win, 27 points that you can lose.”
McInnes revealed stalwarts Cammy Devlin and Lawrence Shankland will return to full training next week, but the Kilmarnock match will come “too soon” for both players.
The manager also lauded the support of the travelling Gorgie fans, 5000 of whom will pack out the Rugby Park away end.
“We feel as if they just want to follow us, and the backing we get home and away has been first class this season, and they’ve got a huge part to play, so when we run out at Rugby Park for the warm up, and the lads see that it feels like a big game right away.”
Hearts face Kilmarnock on Saturday evening, looking to maintain their lead at the summit of the Scottish Premiership.
