Hearts-Hibs reaction: Derek McInnes and David Gray left in different places as title talk addressed

Defender Craig Halkett struck the winner in the first minute of stoppage time to send the home fans into a frenzy and move Hearts five points clear of Celtic, who host Motherwell on Sunday, at the top of the league.

Given Hearts’ unbeaten start to the season and the proclamation of new investor Tony Bloom that the Jambos should be winning the Premiership with the next decade and could split Celtic and Rangers this term, much of the build-up to the first capital clash centred around whether they are able to challenge the Old Firm - and this victory will do little to quell the chatter.

However, McInnes cautioned against such talk given the league is “in its infancy” - although he urged fans to enjoy the moment and admitted while many want Hearts to be up there, many also want them to fail

“Yeah, there's a lot willing, but there's also a lot dying for this to fall flat on their face, let's be honest,” said McInnes on the title challenger tag. “There's so many who don't think there is anything other than just a little period here.

“And listen, it may well be that. We’re only seven games in, the league's in its infancy, whether teams are doing poorly at the minute, or whether teams are doing well ... it's far too early to be making any judgments on how a team plays.

‘The club’s on a good footing at the minute’

“But we'll enjoy it while it's here. I think there's nothing wrong with the supporters getting excited. I think they see the manner in which the team plays. I think they're getting a bit of encouragement from the Jamestown Analytics, and obviously we've been well backed in the past, and continuing to be with James Anderson and Tony Bloom's investment. We've got good solid board members here with Mrs Budge and all the rest of it, so the club's on a good footing at the minute.

“Ultimately it's still about players, it's still about boys trying to win a game of football, and we have been good enough so far to win games. But you have to be honest, a lot of the games have been tight, so we're not blowing teams away. This Scottish Premier League is so tight, and there's not a lot between a lot of teams. If you can get back-to-back wins, never mind three now, you can quickly make some pay with that, and that's where we're at.

“We're going to have to keep improving, and it's our job to try and do that.”

This victory was the third time in the seven opening league matches that Hearts have clinched all three points in stoppage time. “I think when you get last-minute winners, it becomes part of what you are,” said McInnes. “It can be worth so many points, it can be the difference. I loved such a beautiful sight, seeing Tynecastle like that.

“Everybody loves that from that side of it, but obviously to get it in the derby game is even more pleasing. You'd have to say that for long spells in the game, it looked like a 0-0.”

A despondent-looking Hibs head coach David Gray labelled the match “poor” but was forced to lament his team’s concentration in latter stages of matches, once again conceding at a critical moment.

“It's probably the story of our season a little bit,” Gray said. “We can sit and talk about the game and go through it all, but the reality of the situation is, all the good work you do is undone in the last second of the game.

“I don't think it was a great game to be honest, When you actually think about the chances within the game, there weren’t very many.

“In terms of how we fix this, it's about taking responsibility and accountability and that's me, firstly. Some of the performances have been good. There are a lot of good things being said about the group and a lot of good things being said about us. But the return is not good enough, so that's something that certainly hurts.

"It's difficult right now and it's going to hurt for a long time because of the manner of the goal at the very end, who it's against, how that feels and the fact you've not got a game straight away due to the international break to put that right.

"We'll have to make sure we start picking up points as quickly as we can and we've got the next home game [against Livingston] to make sure we start doing that.”