Credit: Imago

Cameron Smith

Thu 12 March 2026 18:10, UK

Hearts manager Derek McInnes has revealed some support from Rangers fans amid the ongoing Scottish Premiership title race.

Hearts remain top of the Scottish Premiership, and have done for large parts of the season as they look for their first title since 1960.

Rangers sit third in the standings, six points behind the league leaders, having beaten them 4-2 at Ibrox last month.

With four matches to go before the split, Hearts remain in control at the top, and McInnes has revealed what he is told regularly by Rangers fans as the pair battle for the title alongside Celtic.

Derek McInnes reveals Rangers fan conversations

Having fought off both Rangers and Celtic for large parts of the campaign, Hearts are four matches away from taking a points lead into the split.

There hasn’t been a league title at Tynecastle since the 1959-60 term, with this season earmarked as the one to finally end the hoodoo.

Speaking at his press conference ahead of Hearts’ clash with Kilmarnock on Saturday, McInnes joked about what fans of the two Glasgow giants tell him.

“I live in the west, so I normally get Rangers fans coming up to me and saying, ‘If we don’t win it, I hope you win it’. And I get Celtic fans saying ‘If we don’t win it, I hope you win it’.”

While the current campaign has been underwhelming for both sides of the Old Firm, Hearts have performed impeccably up to this point, not allowing either side to gain any ground, while they have bounced back from any disappointment immediately.

McInnes continued saying: “It’s just one of these things where for us, regardless of what’s being said, it doesn’t really matter.”

Hearts have held off Rangers and Celtic all season

Since the early days of the campaign, comments have been aimed at Hearts fans, suggesting that a tail-off is coming soon.

However, it just hasn’t happened, no matter how often the goalposts have been moved.

Both Rangers and Celtic have tripped over each other in recent weeks, re-strengthening the lead at the top carried by McInnes’ side, despite Celtic winning their game in hand.

The run from here until the split will have a huge say in how the picture looks come May.

Hearts carry a six-point advantage over Rangers, who will be looking to close that gap in the coming weeks, avoiding a dramatic chase down in the season’s final weeks.

However, the league leaders have held off any advances from either of the Old Firm thus far, meaning that it is going to take a monumental effort against a side that, as of now, has been unflappable.

Updated 24/7 with expert analysis from the heart of Govan.