Kris Boyd makes ‘hurt’ claim about Derek McInnes as Celtic close in after Hearts’ first loss

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Celtic aren’t used to being in this situation, chasing leaders Hearts in the Premiership table.

But that’s what the Hoops have been doing in the opening months of this campaign, as Derek McInnes’ side have been making a lot of noise since the summer.

However, you sense this weekend’s results could be game-changing, as Celtic left it late to beat St Mirren, thanks to Callum McGregor’s stunning stoppage-time strike.

And then 24 hours later, Hearts were beaten at Aberdeen, marking their first loss of the Premiership campaign, as Kris Boyd feels there is a sense of ‘worry’ in the air in Edinburgh.

• READ MORE: What Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin really thinks about Hearts’ title bid as Celtic close in

Kris Boyd reacts to Hearts’ defeat to Aberdeen as Celtic continue to pile on the pressure

It wasn’t so long ago that it was chaos at Celtic because Brendan Rodgers was handing in his resignation, and the champions of Scotland were getting outplayed by Hearts.

But fast forward to the present, and now it’s ‘one win in four’ for Hearts, and Boyd thinks McInnes will be ‘hurting’ and there will be a sense of ‘worry’ from the leaders, as he told Sky Sports Football (23/11/25).

“It’s one win in four for Hearts,” said Boyd. “It would be a slight concern, albeit two of them have been draws as well.

“You look at Hearts, we were talking about the players that they were missing at the start of the game. I don’t think it made that much of a difference. Shankland, obviously.

“I thought Hearts defended reasonably well. They just missed that cutting edge – it just wasn’t meant to be for Hearts in front of goal. Derek (McInnes) needs to take the positives from that.

“It’s a defeat, I think it’s one that will hurt them coming up here as well – if you were Hearts, you would maybe start to be a little bit worried. One win in four. Two of them have been home games; you have to be winning them.”

Celtic and Hearts’ upcoming games until their next meeting

You wonder who will be in Celtic’s dugout the next time they lock horns with Hearts, because it looks like Wilfried Nancy is coming to Glasgow.

There is no doubt that Hearts deserved to beat the champions last time out, but the Parkhead crowd will be hoping to send out a message when they meet at the start of next month, as they are currently four points behind with a game in hand.

But before then, the duo have some important matches to deal with.

• Celtic’s games up until the Hearts fixture on December 7: Feyenoord (A), Hibernian (A), and Dundee (H)
• Hearts’ games up until the Celtic fixture: Motherwell (A), Kilmarnock (H)