By Barry Anderson
Copyright scotsman
No-one at Hearts would dare get carried away seeing the club’s name sitting joint-top of the William Hill Premiership table. Head coach Derek McInnes would be first to nail any cockiness with 33 league games remaining. That said, McInnes is more than willing to let the feelgood factor flourish at Riccarton after such a positive start. Five league games in, Hearts are level at the top with Celtic on 13 points. They beat Aberdeen and drew with Motherwell at Tynecastle Park, whilst recording three successive away victories over Dundee United, Livingston and Rangers. Saturday’s 2-0 triumph at Ibrox underlined the Edinburgh side’s potential to mount a sustained challenge this term. McInnes feels away form is hugely significant. Three wins on the road is not a common occurrence for Premiership sides, other than Celtic or Rangers normally. Harnessing Tynecastle Park as a properly hostile fortress was among the pre-season aims for McInnes and his coaching staff. Winning away from home has also become a key factor of the early-season prowess. “Of course we would have taken this start to the league campaign if you asked us at the beginning of the season,” said McInnes, speaking exclusively to the Edinburgh News. “I think it’s quite significant that we’ve won our three away games when we spoke so much when I first came in about how our home form needed to be strong. I still expect it to be strong, but the good thing is we have won at three difficult venues away from home. “Saturday was the most significant because we beat a team that normally finishes above us. There is a lot of confidence to be taken from that. A lot has been made about Rangers since then, but we are only really focusing on ourselves. We actually did so much of what I was hoping we would do in the game. I just liked how we were with the ball and without the ball. I thought there was a purpose about us, an intent which was really pleasing. You need little rubs of the green here and there but I thought we more than earned our result. “We take the three points and we take the good from it and move on. Winning on Saturday has done us no harm at all, just for the feelgood factor. There are three points at stake in every game, but in some games it’s harder to get them. Traditionally, it has been hard for us to get three points at Ibrox. It is only three points but it felt good to get them.” Hearts beat Ayr United 1-0 in a closed-door bounce game at Tynecastle on Wednesday afternoon. With no competitive fixture this weekend while the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals take place, their next match is against Falkirk in the Premiership a week on Saturday. READ MORE: Hearts begin a restructure with staff set to leave
