Derek McInnes insists his Hearts side are ready for their “toughest” challenge of the season when the league leaders face champions Celtic on Sunday live on Sky Sports.
The Hearts manager has led his side to an unbeaten start in the Scottish Premiership, leaving the Jambos five points clear at the top after eight games.
The visit of Celtic gives Hearts the chance to extend their early season lead to eight points. McInnes is “encouraged” by the positive start and is delighted supporters can dream of becoming the first club to win the top title outside the Old Firm since 1985, but the 54-year-old is not swayed by it.
“I’ve been asked about this game over the last few weeks, even though we’ve had previous games to deal with,” he said ahead of Sunday’s game.
“I think we are ready. I think Celtic present the biggest challenge to any team in Scotland. “We know we have to perform to get a result, but we will go into the game feeling good about ourselves.
Sunday, October 26th, 11am
Kickoff at 12pm
“We’re looking forward to the game, live on Sky, a sell-out game against a team everyone knows is the toughest challenge, so it’s a test to see where we stand.
“It’s not my job to get the fans on their feet. I’m very happy to get the fans and everyone else talking about it (the win), but on balance, if you look at the league table, we’ve played eight games, so the season is in the early stages.”
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Hearts have rocketed up the table under McInnes, who joined in May, after finishing in the bottom six last season.
The manager wasn’t the only change in the off-season, with Brighton owner Tony Bloom investing around £10m into the club for a 29% stake.
Hearts also have a partnership with Jamestown Analytics, the same data company behind the success Bloom enjoyed at Brighton and Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise.
Bloom raised a few eyebrows when he said the club could finish second this season and even win the title in the next decade.
To help, McInnes brought in 11 players in the summer and the likes of Claudio Braga, Alex Kyziridis and Stuart Findlay have made an immediate impact, scoring 10 goals and providing five assists in the Premier League so far.
Alexandros Kyziridis and Claudio Braga have impressed for Hearts this season.
Things have also improved defensively. After conceding six goals in their first four league games, they have kept a clean sheet and won their last four games.
“The players are in a good position,” McInnes added. “Many of our attacking statistics are well documented, but four clean sheets going into the game also helps us, as does the fact that we are enjoying our play at Tynecastle.
“Win, lose or draw (against Celtic) wouldn’t detract from my thoughts on our team. “I’m really happy with the way we performed and what the players gave us, but like every game, it’s obviously an opportunity.
“There is a lot of documentation about investment and recruitment, but at the end of the day it still depends on the players and they have to perform.
“We are encouraged by what we are getting, but not much more at the moment and the challenge we face as we go through the campaign is to keep losses to a minimum and win as many games as possible to see where that takes us.
“Our fight is against ourselves and I’m not trying to be clever about it. We came away from being a bottom six team last season.
“We have to try to live up to the expectations of our supporters. When the season started it was about trying to get us into Europe and have success in the cup competitions and despite the strong start, nothing has really changed at that moment.
“Hopefully we can ride that wave for as long as possible and keep winning. It will be difficult to maintain our current form, but we are enjoying it nonetheless.”
Celtic clash at Tynecastle will be ‘tense’
Celtic have won two and lost one of their eight league games this season.
Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic have dealt with protests against their board off the pitch but have not been at their best on the pitch.
Last weekend Dundee shocked the champions by beating the Hoops at Dens Park for the first time in 37 years and also dropped points against Hibs and Rangers.
Hearts are having a sunny week, but Celtic will be in action in the Europa League on Thursday when they host Sturm Graz before traveling to the capital.
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Chris Sutton and Kris Boyd clashed as they discussed Celtic’s season so far following the shock 2-0 defeat to Dundee.
Despite their difficulties, McInnes still believes his team will be put to the real test, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
“Some games in the Premiership are a lot harder to win than others,” he said. “I still don’t think there’s much of a difference between a lot of teams and every game has its challenges, but I think that’s the toughest challenge when you play Celtic.
“I expect the same things I always expect when I play Celtic – Brendan’s teams always have high quality players and they are always highly motivated.
“If they get a bad result, that’s what happens to the best teams and it usually doesn’t happen that often. So we expect a tough game regardless of who we play and how we play. We have to try to focus on our own performance.
“I think ultimately we have to expect Celtic to show up and play well and we have to expect that ourselves. I expect it will be a tight game, there are a lot of good players in both teams, but ultimately this is a good test for us.
“I think we’re ready. I think the supporters are ready. I think Tynecastle will be ready. Like I said, hopefully we can do enough to win the game.”
