Why derby win could be crucial in Hearts' title quest

Next weekend's Edinburgh derby away to Hibernian could be key for Hearts in their quest for a historic Scottish Premiership title.

Hearts have led the way for much of the campaign and enter the five-game post-split schedule with a one-point lead over Rangers while Celtic are three off the top.

Easter Road has proved an unhappy hunting ground for Hearts in recent years. They have lost back-to-back visits, including a 3-2 defeat this season, and their past seven league trips have yielded just one win.

Elsewhere in the first round of post-split fixtures, Celtic host Saturday and Rangers entertain Motherwell. Depending on those results, anything other than a victory in Leith could see Hearts lose their spot at the top.

"The Edinburgh derby is the first game of the fixtures and it's such a momentum builder," says Hearts fan Liam Corbett, of the This is My Story podcast.

"I think that's probably a game in the calendar that Celtic and Rangers will look at and say that's going to be a very difficult game for Hearts and we've already lost there this season.

"You lose that then you're joint with Celtic on the same points and you're a point or two points behind Rangers if everybody wins their games and you lose yours, which is huge for mentality when there will only be four games left.

"Whereas if Hearts win that match, next game's at Tynecastle, we've got such a good record at home. Then the Hearts v Rangers game becomes absolutely massive because whatever happens in that game, the next one after that is Celtic v Rangers.

"The connotations of just not just looking after your own games, but then the game that follows you, for Celtic and Rangers, becomes massive."

• Hear more Hearts analysis on Wednesday's episode of the BBC Scottish Football Podcast.