Hearts are “underdogs by a wide margin” but still set the pace in the Premier League

McInnes’ message has been clear all season – ‘judge us after two rounds of games’. The campaign has now reached that stage.

If this was the day of resurrection of hearts, then the red card that Banningim received somehow helped them achieve salvation.

Coming into this match, they were the favorites. St Mirren are all about attrition, an injury crisis in midfield having torn the heart out of Stephen Robinson’s League Cup winners.

But the expectation of winning is not something Hearts have always been comfortable with. In their only dip this season, they drew with St Mirren, Dundee United, Motherwell and Kilmarnock, and lost to struggling Aberdeen.

These were all games – with the exception of Motherwell away – that Hearts would have won.

Instead, it was the games against the old company where they shone.

Not since 1960 have they won three games in a row against their Glasgow rivals. They won the league that season.

They are currently in the fourth round, with Celtic at home in sight.

It may be those encounters that make the difference, but it’s wins like the ones over Dundee and St Mirren that suggest the team won’t lose.

They were in a weak position twice, and both times they continued to fight and claim victories.

“Talk about the results of the statement,” pundit Alan Preston said on Sportsound. “This is a great result for Hearts. They were down to 10 men from the 15th minute and deserved to win by a bigger margin.”

If there is such a thing as a statement equaliser, Hearts pulled it off too. After trailing 3-0 to Motherwell in late August, the McInnes bubble looked set to burst. Instead, they came back with a 3-3 draw.

They were unable to pull off the same feat against Hibernian in the Edinburgh derby just after Christmas, but they did hold off Rafael Sallinger to pull away from a point.