Derek McInnes make 'hardest working' claim on Hearts star as former manager makes title prediction

The Kazakhstan international, who joined from FC Tobol, has been bedded in gently as he works to get up to speed, with the domestic season in his homeland having ended in October. But McInnes is excited by the way Chesnokov is tracking after he enjoyed his first big moment in maroon on Saturday by prodding home the only goal in the 45th minute of the Jambos’ 1-0 home victory over Falkirk.

“It was such a good finish,” said the manager. “And he’s just getting better and better as well. Sometimes you don’t see him for long spells, but he’s a moments player. I think he’s going the right way. He’s got the trust of all his team-mates, we see how honest he is.

“He works like a Trojan. He’s probably the hardest working wide player I’ve worked with. And we feel he’s getting more and more quality. He had a shot in the second half and it was a brave block from the Falkirk boy, it was flying towards goal. He’s got that quality. And I think he’s just slowly but surely finding his way and feeling part of it.”

McInnes is dealing with a lengthy injury list, including key players Cammy Devlin, Lawrence Shankland, Oisin McEntee, Beni Baningime, Ageu and Stephen Kingsley. But beaten Falkirk boss John McGlynn, who had a spell in charge of the Jambos in 2012-13, believes his old club are equipped to last the pace at the top of the league.

“You’ve got to give Hearts enormous credit to be where they are,” he said. “Their recruitment’s been great, they’ve got a great home record. I think they’re going to be there to the end. They’ve picked up injuries, so they’ve got their issues but more or less everyone has. They’ve got players to come back from injury.

“We know that Shankland and Devlin are coming back so they might get stronger as the season goes on.”

Despite defeat at Tynecastle, McGlynn’s side are 10 points clear of seventh-placed Dundee United, who have two games in hand. However, the manager is eager to ensure the Bairns book their top-six berth with plenty to spare.

“We want to consolidate this position,” he said. “We want to do it ourselves, we don’t want it by other teams beating other teams. We want to really get points on the board that we’ve made ourselves. We’ve got a nice cushion there. But that’s all it is. It can disappear very quickly if we don’t go and do our own part of it.”