Derek McInnes knows his Hearts side are not Barcelona, but he knows what his team need to be if they are to sustain a Scottish Premiership title challenge. A chaotic 3-2 derby defeat at Hibernian consigned the leaders to just a second league loss of the season in their 19th match. Despite responding with an attempted fightback, McInnes lamented his players not doing the basics well enough as they went three down at Easter Road on Saturday. I think it's two defeats in 19, if we have two defeats out of the next 19, we've had a brilliant season, an unbelievable season. We've lost a game and we know the reasons why we've lost the game."

Source: BBC December 27, 2025 18:03 UTC