Derek McInnes has a simple message for anyone still questioning whether his Heart of Midlothian side have the nerve to go the distance in the Scottish Premiership title race: you haven't been watching closely enough.

With just three games remaining, the Edinburgh club sit three points clear of defending champions Celtic at the top of the table. Their latest statement win on Monday all but ended third-placed Rangers' title hopes, and McInnes believes the doubters have run out of arguments.

"I think anybody who actually questions the mentality now hasn't been watching us," the head coach said. "It goes without saying, regardless of how this season plays out, you don't, at Hearts, get to 76 points with three games to go if you've not got a good mentality. There's pressures at this club that you need to deal with—an insistence on winning games and an expectation—and the players have answered that time and time again."

McInnes pointed to five wins against the Old Firm this season, three victories from four derbies with Hibernian, and an unbeaten home record as proof that "mentality is never in question." It's a remarkable run for a club chasing its first league title since 1960 and aiming to become the first side outside Rangers or Celtic to be crowned champions since 1985.

Despite the stakes, McInnes insists the dressing room remains "pretty relaxed." But he admits the pressure is impossible to fully escape. "Normally, days off can be a chance to switch off, but with the greatest will in the world, it's hard to do that at the minute, particularly because there's not many training days now. We're going to have three games in a week that, for all we've done, will decide how it all plays out."

Hearts could clinch the title as early as Wednesday when they host Falkirk, though they are guaranteed at worst a final-day showdown. For a club and a manager who have silenced every question about their resolve, the finish line is finally in sight.