McInnes & O'Neill keeping cool as Premiership title race catches fire

TL;DR

The Scottish Premiership title race is heating up, with Hearts and Celtic as the final contenders. Hearts can win the title for the first time since 1960 if they defeat Falkirk and Celtic loses to Motherwell.

Key points

Hearts and Celtic are the final contenders for the title.
Rangers are out of the title race.
Hearts can win their first title since 1960.
The final game will be on Saturday at Parkhead.

Mentioned in this story

Parkhead

HeartsCelticRangersScottish Premiership

It seems as though everyone is hyping up the conclusion to the Scottish Premiership title race. Everyone except those involved, that is.

With Rangers now arithmetically out of the running after three consecutive losses, it is down to Hearts and defending champions Celtic.

The Edinburgh side will be crowned champions of Scotland for the first time since 1960 if they beat Falkirk and Celtic lose at Motherwell.

Any other combination of results and it will go to the final game of the season, on Saturday, when the top two face off at Parkhead. Potentially epic.

Group chats, office and pub talk, TV, radio and podcast shows - they're all talking about it, but those at the centre of it are keeping it on the down low.

"I've just assumed Celtic are going to win the game," Hearts head coach Derek McInnes said on Tuesday. "I've had it in my head that we're going to the last game."

"We're all guilty of talking a really good game," Celtic interim boss Martin O'Neill said later in the day. "You have to do it on the pitch."

Nerves 'totally normal' for Hearts

Hearts have been front-runners for the majority of this captivating campaign, but this is uncharted territory for the Tynecastle outfit.

It is more than 40 years since a team other than Celtic or Rangers won Scotland's top flight - Sir Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen in 1985.

"Any of that kind of talk... I understand it," McInnes said. "It's nice to hear 'Hearts could win the league at Tynecastle' because I don't know how many people have been able to say that in their lifetime.

"But the likelihood is, if we're going to win the league, we're going to have to win two games or certainly pick up four points from the next two games.

"The team meeting will just be about this game and no distractions other than that."

Captain Lawrence Shankland - who scored the winner against Rangers and the equaliser against Motherwell in Hearts' past two matches - says the players must take confidence from their results to this point.

"There will be nerves, it's totally normal when you're in this position," the Scotland striker said. "It's just about controlling them.

"Throughout the season we've dealt with that really well. That needs to continue. There needs to be that level of composure so you can go and do your job properly."