How are leaders Hearts handling title pressure?

What does the form say?

While those elements all give Hearts confidence, the team who arrives into the final five games in the best form is Rangers.

In the last 12 games, Danny Rohl's side have taken five more points than Hearts and are just one behind in second place.

Martin O'Neill's Celtic have gathered three more than Hearts over the same period, and the league leaders have suffered three of their five losses this term in those last 12 matches.

Hearts' performances have dropped slightly in the second half of the season, which is why Rangers and Celtic have slowly closed the gap despite their own flaws.

Undoubtedly the absence of striker, joint top scorer, and captain Lawrence Shankland from January until late March has affected that, as well as influential midfielder Cammy Devlin for a similar period.

Midfielders Oisin McEntee and Tomas Magnussen missing the rest of the campaign is a blow, but left-back Harry Milne is due back soon and centre-back Stuart Findlay made his comeback against Motherwell.

Rangers have the form. Celtic, meanwhile, have the most experience of winning the league in their squad and dugout, which the Hearts boss believes is a factor, if far from being critical.

"It doesn't give them any guarantees, but it certainly does help them," he said.

"I don't get caught up in that too much, to be honest. Really, it's performances and just getting results and getting them any way you can at this stage.

"I understand that [narrative], but I actually don't think in the cold light of day it's the most important thing."

Why Edinburgh derby momentum is key

The victory against Motherwell last time was massive for Hearts because it kept them top of the pile at the split and re-ignited the positivity after a draw with bottom side Livingston.

Now, they travel to bitter rivals Hibernian, who will be desperate to boost their own European hopes and derail Hearts' title bid in the process.

McInnes believes it could be Hearts' toughest game, given the derby dynamics and being away from home. Hearts lost their other trip to Easter Road this season 3-2, after falling 3-0 behind before the 50th minute.

Grabbing a third derby win of the season would be a massive boost before Rangers visit Tynecastle, and send a message Hearts can handle the heat.

"If you can get off to a good start in the split, it can give you that added momentum and confidence," McInnes said.

"It'll be a big ask for any team in the split to win all five games, the evidence suggests that it'll be difficult for any team to do that, based on what's already happened this season.

"But if you can get off to a good start, then it gives you that momentum, that confidence that anything's possible, and hopefully we can do that on Sunday."