Derek McInnes could regret ‘the week that decides everything’ claim as Celtic host Rangers

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Celtic and Hearts are still firmly in the title race with three games left, but Rangers are now hanging on by a thread.

As you can imagine, Derek McInnes was pretty upbeat following Hearts’ win over Rangers on Bank Holiday Monday.

But during McInnes’ post-match interview on Sky Sports, he is risking having egg on his face by Sunday evening, because he stated the coming week will be the one that ‘decides everything’ in this titanic title race in Scotland.

Of course, on Saturday evening, Hearts take on free-flowing Motherwell, and then on Sunday, it’s the small matter of Celtic hosting Rangers, as McInnes feels everything will be decided on these two matches.

“It’s only an advantage if you win your game,” said McInnes about playing before Celtic this weekend.

“I think we all need to play the same game; it’s such a pivotal week. It will be the week that decides everything.”

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Derek McInnes goes bold as Celtic host Rangers this Sunday

Kudos to McInnes, because if Hearts lose at Fir Park, then Celtic will go level on points with the leaders if they beat Rangers.

Yes, there could be an element of McInnes playing mind games and trying to put pressure on Martin O’Neill’s side.

But it could come back to bite him, and it would be a lovely watch.

But the Hearts boss is also putting immense pressure on his own players, and perhaps in an unnecessary manner.

“It’s only an advantage if you win your game,” said McInnes about playing before Celtic this weekend. “I think we all need to play the same game; it’s such a pivotal week. It will be the week that decides everything.

“This time next week, there are a couple of big games, ourselves at Motherwell, and we just need to concentrate on ourselves.

“I have never been one for all season at looking at other results, in the sense that you don’t want others to do your job for you. Our job is to do our job well, and thankfully, we did it well enough in that second half to get that win.

“We still have work to do. Every team we play has something to play for. We expect, and we are ready if it has to go down to the last game. We will be ready for that.”