Hearts ready for 'busy' summer amid Celtic-Rangers vow as Tynecastle dressing room message revealed

Named the Scottish Football Writers’ Association manager of the season on Sunday night, McInnes spoke for the first time since seeing the title cruelly ripped from his side’s grasp on the final day. Hearts were forced to settle for second place after late goals from Daizen Maeda and Callum Osmand sealed a 3-1 win for Celtic, who retained the title for a fifth consecutive season.

Despite the devastation that comes from being just three minutes away from a historic title win, McInnes is confident that Hearts are ready to challenge for the title on a regular basis. This comes after achieving a club record 80 points for the season and securing a spot in the Champions League qualifiers.

“This season has given us so much encouragement,” said McInnes. “For us to reach 80 points, and to be involved in Champions League qualifiers in July. So many positives. We’ll look back and enjoy it, but we’ll also have that grievance and disappointment to try and spur us on to something better.

“You’ve got a good reference point for what can be done. It’s our job now to try and put a squad together that meets those challenges [regularly]. There will be more expected of us next season, and rightly so. But it will give us more belief and confidence in what we are doing. The challenges for clubs outside the Old Firm are meeting their club's expectations. That’s why you want to work at Hearts, because there are those demands. We wanted to make sure we qualified for Europe. We are on similar budgets to the likes of Hibs and Aberdeen. Hopefully, we have encouraged other teams about what can be done.

“We are not awash with money, and we have to use what we’ve got wisely. What we do have is expertise, enthusiasm, and a desire to drive the club on. We are hopeful and confident we can keep progressing. We’ll look forward to the Champions League qualifiers when they come around. It is important that we have a rest in the summer, but we need to be busy in order to help the squad in those sorts of games. We’ll be determined when it comes around to try and make the most of it.”

Alongside McInnes, one of the heroes of the Jambos’ season, Claudio Braga, picked up the SWFA men’s player of the year at the event. The first Portuguese player to win the award, he lifted the lid on what was said in the Tynecastle dressing room in the aftermath of their defeat to Celtic, and why he’s confident the team can become regular challengers in the seasons to come.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s quite sore still,” admitted Braga. “It’s hard to feel and think about other stuff. In the dressing room, when we looked at each other, we just feel like this is the beginning. We can create more. We were not yet at that level. So we are just learning, with the mistakes, and now next season, with that, we have learnt already.

“So we’ve got even more stuff to do, and we are a little bit more educated on stuff like that, so I feel it is just the beginning for the club and the players. We have a lot to do. We deserved more, but everything happens for a reason, and we are only going to get stronger.”

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