Nobody can question Hearts’ mentality – McInnes

Derek McInnes believes anyone still wondering whether his Heart of Midlothian side have the fortitude to handle the heat of the Scottish title race hasn’t been paying attention.

The Edinburgh side are currently three points clear of reigning champions Celtic at the top of the Premiership with just three matches remaining in the campaign.

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McInnes says after Monday’s win which all but ended Rangers’ third-place title hopes, they are in pole position and the mentality of the group is exactly where he expects it.

“I think anyone who questions the current mentality is none of our business,” the head coach said.

“It goes without saying, no matter how this season goes, at Hearts you’re not going to get 76 points with three games to go if you don’t have a good mentality because there are pressures at this club that you have to deal with.

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

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McInnes pointed to five Old Firm wins this season, as well as their three wins in four derbies with Hibernian and their unbeaten home run as proof that “mentality is never in question”.

He insists everyone in the dressing room remains “pretty relaxed” despite the prospect of winning their first league title since 1960 and becoming the first club outside Rangers or Celtic to become champions since 1985.

However, he admitted: “Normally days off can be an opportunity to switch off, but with the greatest will in the world it’s difficult to do that at the moment, especially because there aren’t many training days now.

“Now we are going to have three games a week which, despite everything we have done, will decide how this all plays out.”

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Hearts could clinch the title as early as Wednesday, when they host Falkirk, but are guaranteed a final day shootout at Celtic Park at worst.

“We can’t be obsessed with all the different connotations and what happens there if we win this one and they win that one,” said McInnes, whose side travel to fourth-placed Motherwell on Saturday night before Celtic host Rangers on Sunday.

“That’s not our thinking, I don’t have time for that,” McInnes said. “The message to the players is just to focus on winning against Motherwell.

“They haven’t beaten us this season, but they have been problematic for most teams. In all three games they could have beaten us, but we managed to do our job long enough in all games to score points.”

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McInnes was named PFA Scotland manager of the year on Sunday and said he saw it as “a reward for everyone”, highlighting the support he received from sporting director Graeme Jones and coaches Paul Sheeran and Alan Archibald.