Hearts have bright future despite Scottish title pain: McInnes

The Edinburgh side, who led for most of the season, were pipped to the post as Celtic scored two late goals to defeat them 3-1 in Saturday’s title decider.

Hearts were unable to carry out their post-match media duties as they were swiftly escorted out of Celtic Park following a pitch invasion by fans.

That meant McInnes, just minutes away from breaking the decades-long stranglehold of Celtic and Rangers, did not have a chance to speak publicly on the campaign until late on Sunday evening.

“In the cold light of day, when we look back, there’s been so much positivity from where we were at the beginning of the season,” he said after collecting the Scottish Football Writers’ Association manager of the year award.

“The intention now is to dust ourselves down and try and enjoy our break but be ready for the challenges ahead.

“I fully believe that those challenges are going to be met, with the enthusiasm from everybody at the club and the desire to improve and make it the norm for us to be challenging for trophies on a more regular basis.”

Hearts reached a club-record 80 points and their reward for finishing in the top two for the first time in 20 years is a place in the Champions League qualifiers in July.

“We’ll look back and enjoy it but we’ll also have that kind of grievance at times and that disappointment to try and spur us on to something greater,” said McInnes.