Heart of Midlothian

Hearts fans, we asked for your views on the 1-1 draw with Motherwell at Fir Park. Here's a taste of what you had to say...

Aran: Absolutely shocking that the clear foul on Alexandros Kyziridis wasn't given as a penalty, one of the worst takes I've seen all season. Rest of the game was alright but refereeing quality was rubbish.

Dougie: Blatant penalty. Referee Steven McLean was the only person in stadium who thought otherwise. Shocking decision, just hope it's not a title-deciding one. Draw just about right, but Hearts looked like it was theirs in the last 20 minutes.

Chris: Easy to be bitter - we have been denied two clear penalties and the utter ineptness from the referee, who is looking for reasons not to give the penalty rather than approaching it objectively, is massive.

Other than that, our build-up play was slow at times, and another two season-ending injuries. Fighting against everything just now. Two to go.

Bob: Can't let one controversial refereeing decision define our season. Hearts must keep fighting it out at the top of the Premiership. After all, we've earned the respect of football fans worldwide.

Peter: Feel gutted for Craig Halkett, terrible injury at a crucial time in his career. As for the result, we needed not to lose and did all we could to win, but Motherwell are such a well-organised and quick outfit who coped well with our second half onslaught.

It was a penalty against Kyziridis, but it would have been of the soft variety. Derek McInnes needs to find a way to get us a good win over Falkirk and my gut feel is that he will.

Alfo: After the Rangers and Motherwell challenges, we've banked four points from six - despite being denied a stonewaller of a penalty - and that's something Celtic still have to better with both their games against the same two teams coming up.

I'd rather be in our position than theirs. Hearts' passion, commitment and skill continues to make those of us of a maroon persuasion incredibly proud of their achievements. A final push to get us over the line and it'll be the finest in the club's 152-year history, full stop.

Ken: Huge job for Derek McInnes to get a midfield together for Wednesday. We need to really go at Falkirk as it may come down to goal difference. Celtic will win today but their game against Motherwell is pivotal. We will all be looking out for dodgy penalty decisions.

Leaders Hearts nudged four points clear of Celtic in the Scottish Premiership title race by drawing at Motherwell - but missed an opportunity to put maximum pressure on the defending champions before Sunday's Old Firm derby.

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Hearts head coach Derek McInnes: "I thought Motherwell started sharp and you see why we go with the extra midfielder there.

"They are a team that test your organisation, they are bright and particularly here at Fir Park, where their record has been magnificent and they deserve all the plaudits they get.

"In saying that, I don't think they had many opportunities. They get their goal and we are disappointed as we should defend it better.

"We responded well and I thought we were the better team and Lawrence [Shankland] got his goal.

"The biggest thing about my team is their desire to win. Despite obvious injuries and setbacks, we are patched goether, we come though with plenty of credit. I think you can see why my team are top of the league."

On the penalty incident: "At the time I thought it was a penalty, [the VAR] has done his job well. The referee had a poor game tonight.

"The biggest decision of the lot he got wrong. There doesn't need to be a lot of contact. Why would he go down? It's a penalty kick. It's a poor decision.

"I'm delighted with the effort of the players against a really good team."

Blair Spittal, 30, is pushing for a Hearts start against former club Motherwell after recent impressive performances off the bench. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription required), external

Saturday's Scottish gossip

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Motherwell full-back Johnny Koutroumbis is pushing for a comeback while Eythor Bjorgolfsson and Zach Robinson remain out.

Hearts boss Derek McInnes hopes Harry Milne (calf) and Cammy Devlin (muscle) can return after injury, but Oisin McEntee, Calem Nieuwenhof (both hamstring), Tomas Magnusson, Ageu (both thigh) and Craig Gordon (shoulder) remain out.

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Motherwell midfielder Andy Halliday has announced he will retire at the end of this season.

The 34-year-old has made just two Premiership appearances this season - both as a substitute - following five matches in the Scottish League Cup.

He started his senior career with Livingston, before permanent spells with Middlesbrough, Bradford City, Rangers and Hearts, before signing for Motherwell in 2024. He has also played on loan for Walsall, Blackpool and Azerbaijani side Gabala in an 18-year playing career.

Halliday won the Scottish Championship twice - with Rangers in 2016 and with Hearts in 2021.

"I feel that time is right for me to step away from the playing side of the sport I adore," Halliday said in a statement on the Motherwell website.

"There have been some ups and downs along the way, but when I look back on my career, I have zero regrets. So many players may not get to experience some of the things I've managed over the years, and for that, I'm grateful.

"Being a footballer isn't easy. It's required a lot of sacrifice over the years, which is all part of what I signed up for, but for my loved ones, I owe them my deepest thank you. I simply wouldn't have been able to get to where I got to without them. Their support has been incredible on this journey, and I don't know what I would have done without them all.

"I want to thank my teammates and staff at Livingston, Middlesbrough, Walsall, Blackpool, Bradford City, Rangers, Hearts and Motherwell for being a part of my journey. I've met some friends for life through this sport, and at every club I hold the fondest of memories that will stick with me. Thank you.

"Despite this announcement and my appreciation for all the kind messages I've received recently, I don't want any distractions for the boys as they look to finish this incredible season on a high. We're all desperate to close out as strongly as possible and gather as many points as we can, starting tomorrow against Hearts. Thank you to the Motherwell fans for their support all season long, and let's get stuck into these last three games."

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Hearts defender Craig Halkett has revealed how the imminent arrival of his first child is helping to distract him from the prospect of Scottish Premiership glory.

The centre-back has scored six goals in 34 appearances for Derek McInnes' side this season, playing a crucial role as they top the league table by three points from Celtic with three matches to play.

However, Halkett's home life is keeping him grounded amid what would be one of Scottish football's greatest triumphs.

"I'm actually expecting a baby in four or five weeks' time so that's been a good distraction for me," he said.

"I've got my girlfriend and two dogs back at home so as soon as I go home, it's quite easy to switch off.

"I think it's important that you've still got it in the back of your mind and you're not just going home and doing what you want. Obviously, with life as a footballer, you're 100% all-in on your work.

"You don't switch off completely, but to go home with a great family, it's quite easy for me to switch off.

"Obviously, football is going really well at the moment and life at home is going really well, so it could be a special summer."

The 30-year-old insists the pressure has not ramped up with just three matches - against Motherwell, Falkirk and Celtic - to go.

Wins in the first two, paired with Celtic dropping points against Rangers on Sunday, would make Hearts top-flight champions for the first time since 1960.

"From my personal point of view, the pressure is still the same as it's been all season," Halkett said.

"It's hard to ignore the position we're in, but everyone's got their feet on the ground. Everyone knows how difficult it's going to be and how far away it can still be, so the full focus is just on Saturday.

"I think we're all just buzzing. The confidence is really high in the changing room.

"We don't have any past experiences, good or bad, of being in this position, so everything's new and we're all just going with it. We're all in good spirits."

Halkett was asked about hopes of making the Scotland squad after such an impressive season, but says he is only focusing on his club form.

"It's not something that's at the front of my mind, if I'm being honest," he said of the national team. "My full focus this season has been on Hearts and myself and playing as many games as I could.

"If that put me in a position to be called up, then great. If it didn't, I wasn't going to be too disappointed about it. It's been a tough couple of years for me so coming back and playing as many games for Hearts as I could was my main focus. Thankfully I'm doing that."

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Hearts fans won't want to give the suggestion of Derek McInnes leaving the club any credence, but with more success comes more attention.

Should Hearts go on to win this season's title, becoming the first non-Old Firm side to do so in 41 years, the eyes of the world will be on Tynecastle for the celebrations, and the eyes of the footballing world will focus on the man who masterminded their triumph.

Former Hearts manager Robbie Neilson doesn't expect McInnes to be anywhere else come the start of next season, but knows a "crazy offer" could change anything.

"I'd be surprised if he's not there next season," Neilson said on BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"I think obviously the season they've had this year has been amazing, European football next year as well, potential Champions League.

"Reinvestment again by Tony Bloom, who's saying the team will be stronger next year.

"Unless it's a crazy offer, which I don't think will come, you know, we're talking about Premiership clubs in England, maybe big teams abroad, I think that's probably the only level Derek's going to jump from.

"I think there will be interest."

McInnes was appointed Hearts head coach in May 2025, leaving Kilmarnock after winning the Scottish Championship and then guiding them to European football.

Neilson reckons the only job that could be the right move for McInnes would be to follow in the footsteps of another ex-Killie boss by taking over the national side, but it may come around too soon.

"I think the Scotland one is a very interesting one, depending on what happens with Steve [Clarke]," Neilson added.

"It looks more and more likely that he's going to be leaving after the World Cup campaign.

"For me, Derek would be the number one choice by an absolute country mile.

"The decision is whether Derek wants that job or not, and if he were still at Kilmarnock at this point, I would say that's the guy.

"But now he's at Hearts, a potential championship-winning team, European football I just don't think the timing's right for Derek."

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• Both of Motherwell's past two home league games against Hearts have finished 0-0, despite a combined 35 shots (15 Motherwell, 20 Hearts) and 2.38 xG (0.85 Motherwell, 1.53 Hearts).

• Hearts are unbeaten in six league meetings with Motherwell (W3 D3) since losing 3-1 in August 2024.

• Motherwell have won just one of their past seven league games (D1 L5). Since the start of March they have picked up the fewest points of any Scottish Premiership side (four).

• Hearts have won their past three Premiership games, despite falling 1-0 behind each time – including a 3-1 win over Motherwell in April. The last side to win four successive games in the competition despite trailing in each were Kilmarnock in September/October 2018.

• Lawrence Shankland, who has scored in six of his past nine league starts, has won 73% of his appearances in the competition this season – the highest rate of any player to play 25+ games. By contrast, Hearts have just four wins in nine league games without the forward this campaign (44%).

Striker James Wilson, 19, is poised to return to Hearts at the end of the season following four months on loan at Tottenham. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription required), external

Southampton are pushing ahead with plans to land highly-rated Hearts teenager Boyd Fraser, with Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest also interested in the 16-year-old. (TeamTalk), external

Motherwell aim to defend "with their life" against Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts on Saturday evening, says manager Jens Berthel Askou. (Herald - subscription required), external

Friday's Scottish gossip

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"They could have beaten us in all three games."

Derek McInnes needs no reminding of the threat Motherwell pose as he bids to inch Hearts closer to the title with victory at Fir Park on Saturday.

While Jens Berthel Askou's impressive Steelmen have yet to beat the Tynecastle side in three attempts this season, they've provided plenty of problems.

Motherwell led 3-0 in Gorgie back in August before the hosts mounted an incredible comeback in the final 25 minutes to salvage a point.

Then came a goalless stalemate at Fir Park in November, before Hearts needed another Tynecastle rescue when the sides met again last month, the visitors eventually losing 3-1 after spurning chances to burnish their lead.

"They carved us open a few times," McInnes said of that encounter.

"But they're a team who constantly test your organisation throughout the game, and they can make little subtle tweaks and little different ways of playing that can maybe test your organisation.

"I'm not the only opposition manager to sit before you play Motherwell and say how well they've done.

"They're a good team, well coached, they're a confident team, they look like a team who enjoy playing and what they've been asked to do."

Hearts forwards Claudio Braga and Lawrence Shankland and Motherwell attacking duo Elijah Just and Tawanda Maswanhise were the four candidates for PFA Scotland's Premiership player of the year award.

Braga was the eventual winner but McInnes thinks his opponents don't get enough credit for the individual quality throughout their side.

"I think they've also got very good players," he said.

"I sometimes think that gets left behind, it's all about how well coached they are and how they play, the style, but they've actually got really good individual players as well.

"I know you've said they've been problematic, and they have, but they've been problematic for most teams. But we have to be honest, they could have beaten us in all three games.

"But we've managed to do our job well enough for long enough in all the games to pick up points against them.

"And this game will be tough again for loads of reasons.

"You have to be so on point when you're out of possession, because if you're not, they're the type of team that can punish you.

"And that's what happens when you're up against good teams and well-coached teams."

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou insists not finishing fourth in the Scottish Premiership would be as big a disappointment for his club as it would be for Hearts if they don't win the title.

The Dane insists his side are focused on the "massive" achievement of securing fourth place and European football next season, and are not interested in being "kingmakers" or getting in the way of other clubs' ambitions.

Victory over Derek McInnes' men on Saturday evening would almost certainly mean Hibernian could not catch the Fir Park side in the race to secure a European place, and would be Motherwell's latest say in the title race after recently beating Rangers at Ibrox.

"I know there's been a lot of talk about now we play against teams who have a lot of pressure on them and they can win the title," Askou said.

"We're also in for a big thing for us.

"It will be an equally big disappointment for us as it is for Hearts if they don't finish on top now after they've been there for so long, we've been in this position for so long, we're so close.

"It is a massive achievement for us if we can keep this position in the league, and especially by securing it, winning against possibly the coming champions either on Saturday or the next game.

"We beat another title contender a few weeks back and now it's an opportunity to do that again. We cannot wait to give our best."

Despite their recent Ibrox triumph and posing a challenge to Hearts' title bid, Askou has no interest in being the supposed kingmakers in the title race.

"It's about us, I've said that many times," he said.

"We're not dreaming of becoming kingmakers or in this for getting in the way of other people.

"We want to leave as many teams under us and behind us in the league table to end up in a position where we achieve something massive and that is massive for us if we can.

"On top of a very interesting, exciting and developing season for us as a club, to also clinch a position and hang on to a position and end in a position that gives us some extra journeys after the summer."

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Derek McInnes has been speaking to the media before Hearts' crucial Premiership trip to face Motherwell on Saturday.

Here are the key lines:

• Hearts have quickly moved on from the "feelgood factor" of Monday night's "big win" over Rangers: "As soon as you have your shower after the game, it just about Motherwell."

• McInnes insists no one should question the mentality of his players as they bid to complete a stunning title win. "I think anybody who actually questions the mentality now hasn't been watching us," he says. "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 because there's pressures at this club you need to deal with. There's an insistence on winning games here and an expectation, so the players have answered that time and again".

• With two draws and a defeat, Motherwell have been "problematic" for Hearts this season and McInnes admits: "We have to be honest, in all three games they could have beaten us."

• The Steelmen "constantly test your organisation" and McInnes adds: "They look like a team who enjoy playing and what they've been asked to do. But they've also got very good players. I sometimes think that gets left behind. It's all about how well-coached they are and how they play, the style."

• On whether victory at Fir Park would be a huge step towards the title, which Hearts could clinch as early as Wednesday, McInnes says: "Who knows how big a step it is. It's just three points. We can't get obsessed with all the different connotations and what happens there if we win that one and they win that one. It's not our thinking, I have no time for that. The message to the players is just concentrate and try to win a game against Motherwell."

• Cammy Devlin and Harry Milne are "quietly getting there" after injury and could be available for Saturday. Craig Gordon is back in light training.

• McInnes pays tribute to his players and staff after winning his second manager of the year award: "For any manager at any level, any club, you still need good support round about you. I've had that. My relationship with Graeme Jones and the board have helped that. But the relationship with the players has been way more than that. It's been so strong from the start and I think the players have deserved it. They're the biggest driver for any individual awards."

• With a three-point lead and just three games to go, the Hearts squad remain "pretty relaxed" and McInnes says: "We have conversations that aren't about the games and the season. It's just normal conversations you would try and have to keep that as normal as possible."

• On how he's coping with the title pressure and expectation, McInnes admits he enjoys the wins and how "everybody feels at the end, because I do feel that responsibility" while admitting he finds it difficult to switch off.

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Hearts head coach Derek McInnes has been named the Premiership manager of the season.

The 54-year-old picks up his second individual accolade of the campaign, having been voted SPFL manager of the season at the PFA Scotland awards on Sunday.

McInnes' side are on course for their first top-flight title in 66 years, sitting three points clear at the top of the table with just three games to go.

"I'm grateful for the award, but it's the collective effort of our players and staff that make it possible," said McInnes.

"I'm so proud of what the lads have given us this season.

"We've had a great season up to now, but there's still a job to be done and we intend to devote all our energy and focus to that. We'll all do our utmost to finish the season on a high."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Hearts are now in a position that no-one thought they would be in at this stage of the season.

They now know that victories in their next three matches - and probably just the next two - will make them Scottish top-flight champions for the first time since 1960.

That statement alone is just nuts.

Back in 1960 the Scottish top flight looked very different. There were 18 teams in what was then called Scottish League Division One.

Only 34 matches were played, with each team playing every other twice.That season Hearts won 23 of their 34 matches and lost only three times - to Kilmarnock and Motherwell on the road, with a solitary home defeat against St Mirren the only blemish at Tynecastle.

Back in those days there were only two points for a win, and their final total of 54 gave them a four-point advantage over second-placed Kilmarnock.

The manager at the time was the legendary Tommy Walker. Born in Livingston, he played nearly 250 games and scored over 100 goals for the club before taking on the manager's job in 1951, a role he held for 15 years.

Oh, how managers today would wish to stay in a job for that long.

But Hearts fans cannot get too far ahead of themselves. There is still work to be done to complete the job.

Motherwell have arguably been the most problematic opponents for Hearts this season. Some may forget that they ripped Hearts apart for an hour at the start of the season before a stunning fightback snatched a point.

The outcome of Saturday night's game may well determine exactly what will be required when Falkirk come to Tynecastle next week for the final home match of the season.

One thing is for sure: there will be nerves, tension and probably a few sleepless nights for Hearts fans. Praying that their dreams will come true, they don't have long to wait before they find out.

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Former Hearts defender Christophe Berra believes Hearts are "in the driving seat" heading into the last three games of the Premiership season.

The Tynecastle club are three points above Celtic in second place, with nine points still to play for.

Berra, who came through the youth ranks at Hearts, thinks head coach Derek McInnes deserves a huge amount of credit for what he is on the cusp of achieving with his team.

"People think management is all about tactics, but it's about getting the players to play for you," Berra told BBC Scotland. "Derek's done that. The players will run through a brick wall for him. The character in the squad has been unbelievable.

"We're in the driving seat. The players will know that, the manager will know that. With three games to go, I think it's an amazing position to be in - and one the players are going to grasp."

While there is no doubt it has been an outstanding season for Hearts, it has also been a poor one for the Old Firm, particularly Rangers, who were all but knocked out of the title race with their defeat at Hearts on Monday.

Celtic, who have had three managers this term, have lost eight games in a season for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign.

But Berra is pleased to see Hearts finally challenging the dominance of the Glasgow sides.

"We're used to Celtic being 10, 15 or even 20 points ahead and having the title wrapped up by now," he added. "Celtic and Rangers have not hit the levels they have previously, and Hearts have upped theirs.

"It's brought worldwide attention, which can only be good for the game. I think the majority of people outside the Old Firm want to see Hearts win it.

"It needs change. To do it two or three years in a row is a different challenge, but to break that Old Firm dominance would be incredible."