Hearts manager Derek McInnes dismisses title talk as stupid ahead of Hibs clash

Hearts head coach Derek McInnes has shrugged off any suggestion his side can be considered title contenders, saying it’s “stupid” to draw conclusions after just six Premiership games.

The Tynecastle sit currently sit at the top of the league table, two points above champions Celtic, prompting bookmakers to cut their odds, and pundits to consider their strength with some believing they could challenge for the top prize.

“There’s more pundits will say we can’t [win the league],” McInnes said. “Let’s be honest.

“It’s six games into the season. Our fight is with ourselves. It’s stupid to say we’re in a title fight at the minute.

“We’re not getting drawn into that. For us, our fight is to improve on what wasn’t good enough last season and we need to work on that.

“Everybody can keep asking me but until we are a couple of rounds of fixtures round the block then I’m not prepared to get drawn into all of that.”

While McInnes didn’t want to talk about Premiership titles, he did underline the club’s ambition and said that with the backing of investor Tony Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics, Hearts would be striving to continue to improve what is already a talented squad.

“We’re in a strong position,” he said. “I had various brilliant squads at Aberdeen that I enjoyed working with but this is my squad now and we have good options.

“I do think at Hearts as we go on, the intention to go along with the analytics is improve in every transfer window. We have confidence with that.

“It’s not the £10m investment, we’ve had loads of investment at Hearts over the years. It’s Tony Bloom’s company, intelligence and expertise that can bridge the gap, not money.

“So from that point of view, in every transfer window, we will become stronger.”