Hearts: Are Derek McInnes’ side developing the habit of champions?

Late goals are not the only habit that forms in hearts. Winning the hard way, getting maximum points through minimal performance, is something title-winning teams do too.

“If you want to compete for titles and win leagues, you have to win ugly, and Hearts did that tonight,” former Celtic defender Charlie Mulgrew told Premier Sports.

He was not the only critic to comment on Hearts’ subpar performance. While McInnes opted for an attacking side, the team looked timid in the build-up, struggling to maintain their composure amid the usual chaos of an Edinburgh derby.

“They won’t really care about the performance, they have 12 games to make history,” former Hearts midfielder Ryan Stevenson, who also had the difficult task of selecting man of the match, told BBC Sports Sound.

“Harry Milne, for me, tried everything he could to influence the game, push Hearts forward. Other than him, almost all of them were stinks.”

Well, totally. Scott Allan, the former Hibs and Celtic midfielder, was more eloquent in his assessment.

“Tonight was a big game and we didn’t play well at all,” he said. “I couldn’t see Hearts scoring a goal. I thought there would only be one winner and that was Hibs.”

“Winning like that, and a clean sheet as well, says a lot about what you are building there.

“Derek McInnes won’t be worried about that performance. What a position he puts Hearts in, going into that game on Sunday.”

Oh yeah, the game is on Sunday. Rangers at Ibrox. Hearts won there again in September, their first away win over the blue half of Glasgow since 2014.

No one could have imagined then that the next time Hearts came to town, the visitors would still be ahead of their hosts in the standings.

“If they get three points at Ibrox, I think they will win the league,” Stevenson predicted. Great call for a great match.