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Hearts boss Derek McInnes has defended his team’s style of play, though he admits he doesn’t care about plaudits for pretty football, with the Tynecastle side sitting nine points clear of Celtic in the Premiership table. McInnes has guided Hearts through a stunning start to the season, which has seen the team talked about as genuine title contenders. That view gained more weight when they enjoyed a comprehensive 3-1 victory over champions Celtic two weeks ago. In the aftermath of that match at Tynecastle, Brendan Rodgers talked about Celtic’s “DNA being about playing football” in contrast to Hearts. “Hearts, it’s a different DNA here,” he said. “The ball’s direct. The supporters love that. “It’s a second ball fight. It’s set pieces, all that. Celtic hasn’t become winners in that way.” When asked about Hearts’ own ‘DNA’, McInnes seemed a little surprised to see his team get any negative label, but thinks he puts out a team that’s entertaining supporters and scoring goals. “It’s up to everybody to decide how they want their teams to play,” he said. “I’ve never been a critic of that. “For us, I said when I first came in that I wanted us to be a side that Hearts supporters wanted to see. I wanted us to play with a bit more width, get the ball forward quicker, and play with a bit more aggression. “I said on my first day that I wanted Hearts fans to wake up on a Saturday morning, and they can’t wait to play at Tynecastle. I want my players to feel that they enjoy playing at Tynecastle. “I’m not sure that’s always been the cas,e and they’ve got to feel confident in their environment. “Twenty-eight goals in 11 games is good shooting. There’s a good spread of goals. We score from set plays, from open play, from crosses. We score from outside the box and we score tap-ins. “There’s plenty of attacking threat from our team. In every game we need to get the balance right between attacking and defending but we’re getting a lot back from the players like we had hoped. “Now that we’re doing it, it’s about whether we can become even better with that.” The former Kilmarnock and Aberdeen boss dismissed the notion of his side being physical but confessed that results were more important than praise from outside about being aesthetically pleasing. “I like watching my team,” he said. “I’ve always liked to play with wingers, and I have always liked to play with two strikers. “We’re not the biggest physical team, and you can’t have a front line of Shankland, Braga, Kyziridis, whoever we play on the right, Beni, Devlin. We’re big in the right places and were not going to get pushed about. We compete and can fight our corner. “It’s wrong to think we’re just a team that’s big and physical because we’re not. We play aggressively, which we expect, and when we play with two wingers and two strikers, there’s a commitment from me about how we play. “There’s a trade-off because with those extra forward players, sometimes you need to defend a lot more. But the defending starts from the front, and I’ve been pleased with that. “I actually don’t care too much. I think we’re getting enough plaudits for results, and results are why we are here.
