Heart of Midlothian

Jonathan Sutherland
BBC Sport Scotland

The link-up play between Lawrence Shankland and Claudio Braga belies a friendly rivalry between the two Hearts strikers.

Both were on target in the 2-2 draw with St Mirren, both are now on nine goals for the season, and both want to be the top scorer at the Premiership pacesetters.

"Maybe a little bit of healthy competition," admits Braga. "But of course, I was really happy when he scored and I know he was also really happy when I scored.

"It is a good thing that we are both unselfish in that way. We want each other to do well.

"I like to learn with him, he is a great guy also. We joke a lot. But also when he is serious he is serious."

Arriving from the Norwegian second division, Braga has been a revelation.

Along with Alexandros Kyziridis he has been a totem of the Jamestown Analytics model where talented players are plucked from relative obscurity for maximum impact.

Derek McInnes has worked wonders integrating these new additions with the high performers already at the club, the Braga-Shankland partnership the perfect example.

"Playing with him [Shankland] has helped me a lot to learn a lot of aspects, especially about Scottish football," the Portuguese added.

"Our link-up play is getting better because our connection is also getting better, getting routines, playing more games together.

"If he ends up being better on goals [scored] I'm happy. Of course, I want to be better than him, but only in a healthy way."

Hearts fans have taken to Braga's bright, intelligent attacking play and even have their own 'Radio Ga Ga' chant for him, to the tune of the Queen classic.

"Of course I am loving it, especially being part of such amazing team performances this season from the beginning," he said.

"I always wanted to come here, get good performances individual and collective, around the club it is really good, the players, the staff, the supporters."

We asked for your views on the 2-2 draw at St Mirren that narrowed Hearts' Premiership lead to six points.

Here's what some of you said:

Neil: Well it's without doubt that Hearts are now on the radar of clubs chasing them. We should have won against St Mirren regardless of the VAR decision. Anyway, win against Dundee and we are on the way again.

Stuart: Take the draw after that. Totally struggled with the long ball all night. Both centre-halves bullied and Killian Phillips for St Mirren was too physical for our midfield duo. On the positive Pierre Kabore did well when he came on and once again Claudio Braga and Lawrence Shankland linked up well.

Norrie: Apart from Motherwell, this was by far the biggest challenge we have faced in the opening games. St Mirren tested us to the max and we're unfortunate to only draw. The third goal they had disallowed is more than questionable but from my point of view, four points from Celtic and St Mirren, however it came, is a good haul. Still undefeated and still clear at the top, that's some going from a team that is still progressing.

Steve: I don't think we managed to get a handle on St Mirren playing long balls constantly, and I still thought we looked dangerous on the ball. Braga is outstanding and shows his honesty with his off-the-ball effort. In all honesty we could have lost this game but it just shows you these players will not accept defeat at any stage. Valuable point.

Jim: I had warned a trip to Paisley would be fraught with danger and so it proved. St Mirren at home is never an easy visit and other teams will find that fact out as well. However, we protected our unbeaten league record and have a very good chance of extending our lead over the next two weeks. Still need work defensively on set-plays, overall a very good week for our club.

Peter: A rollercoaster of a game, hugely enjoyable for the neutral and nerve-racking for both team's supporters! We could have won that game 4-2 or lost it by the same margin. Our defence was exposed and work to do there for sure, but our attacking prowess is immense! Good point gained against a good team, away from home.

Watch the highlights as St Mirren and Hearts each take a point from their midweek Scottish Premiership encounter (UK only).

Hearts head coach Derek McInnes: "In terms of chances created, we've hit the woodwork two or three times. I thought we were the better team in between the couple of poor goals we lose.

"We know what St Mirren are. They keep their two front men up and try to engage with them as quickly as possible. We're disappointed with the goals we lose, it's the first time we've looked susceptible from set-plays."

"Sometimes St Mirren put that pressure on you and you make poor decisions. But by and large I thought we were good in the game. We can't ignore the two goals we lose.

"I loved the way the team were at the end. The support stay there at the death because they feel another goal is coming. That's a great feeling to have as a manger, you feel the players are doing everything to get that winning goal.

"At no point did we accept just one point. It's important we win the game on Saturday now. If we do, this'll be seen as a decent point.

"If anyone told me at the start of the season that after 10 games we'd be six points clear of Celtic, you'd have grabbed that with both hands. That's where we are."

Hearts twice came from behind and had a potential late winner disallowed as their Scottish Premiership lead was cut to six points after an enthralling draw at St Mirren.

Have your say on the game here.

Read our match report here.

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From bottom-six fodder to title pacesetters in the space of a few months is quite the contrast. And even Hearts skipper Lawrence Shankland admits the club's transformation has exceeded all expectations.

Shankland looked set for the Tynecastle exit in the summer as his contract ran out at the conclusion of a dismal season in which Hearts spent time in bottom spot before finishing seventh.

But new manager Derek McInnes helped convince the Scotland striker to commit to a further three years in Gorgie and it's been a thrilling ride since, with Hearts a scarcely-believable eight points clear before tonight's trip to face St Mirren.

Asked if he envisaged such a remarkable scenario unfolding when he agreed to sign a new deal, Shankland said: "Not really, no. I just based the decision on what I wanted and what was best for me and my family.

"Obviously I knew the football club and what it's like to work here and play here. I imagined it couldn't have got much worse than last year. It was a difficult season so I had an idea [it would be better].

"I'd worked with the manager before [at Aberdeen] when I was younger and it was another opportunity to work with him again and being in a totally different position as a player and in my career, so that's been good.

"I don't think anybody would have seen us making as good a start, to be honest. It's always difficult to win the amount of games that we've won. But it's a good moment at the minute and you need to enjoy that and keep getting results."

Shankland knows opponents may now raise their game when they play Hearts given their lofty, unbeaten status, but he added: "I'd rather that be the issue than looking behind you and thinking, 'We need to get away from the bottom here'.

"That's what it was for a long spell last year, so I'm quite enjoying this."

Hearts will aim to continue their stunning start - eight wins and a draw from nine matches - against a St Mirren side that Shankland says have more about them than just physicality.

"It's a difficult place to go," he said. "St Mirren are a good team, especially at home.

"Teams often brand them a long-ball team and say they don't play a lot of football, but they've got good players in there."

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Hearts "have to win" fixtures like Wednesday's Scottish Premiership trip to St Mirren, says former manager Robbie Neilson.

Derek McInnes' side lead the division by eight points following Sunday's home win over Celtic.

"These are the games that dictate whether you can go and challenge and win a title," Neilson told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"The game at the weekend there, they kind of take care of themselves because of the build-up and everyone's ready for it. It's a massive game.

"When you go away, especially to St Mirren, which is a very, very difficult place to be to go and play, I think these are the games that tells you where you are as a team, because St Mirren will be up for it.

"They'll be looking at it. League leaders come into town, a chance to turn them over. Hearts have to go there and win these games, and that's it."

Stephen Robinson's St Mirren have lost their past three games but did knock Hearts out of the Premier Sports Cup in August.

"Expectations are so high nowadays, and especially in Scottish football with St Mirren," added Neilson.

"We kind of expect them to be top six because Stephen's done such a fantastic job, but they're having a little bit of a dip, they're not scoring as many goals, but they're still pretty defensively strong.

"They've got a good squad and they've got a very, very good manager, so I would expect them to pick back up again, but the teams that you've got in that top six, there's always really only one or two spaces left for the so-called not top teams within the league."

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• After their 2-1 victory last September, St Mirren are looking to earn back-to-back home wins over Hearts in the top flight for the first time since February 2013.

• Hearts have won four of their past six league games against St Mirren (D1 L1), including the latest two in a row. Hearts last defeated the Buddies three times in a row in the Scottish Premiership in February 2022.

• St Mirren lost their last home league game 1-0 to Aberdeen, ending their eight-game unbeaten run on home soil in the Scottish Premiership (W4 D4).

• Hearts have won their past six away games in the Premiership, including all four this season. The last non-Old Firm club (Celtic/Rangers) to win seven in a row on the road in the competition were Aberdeen in August 2017.

• Lawrence Shankland has scored (four) or assisted (one) five goals in his last seven Premiership appearances against St Mirren, netting in two of his last four at the SMISA Stadium.

The Greek winger rattled in his third league strike of the season in Sunday's 3-1 win over Celtic as pacesetters Hearts laid down an emphatic marker.

The 25-year-old is already a fans' hero, with his positive running causing havoc.

Opponents know he likes to cut inside and have a pop with his right foot but stopping him is another matter. Kyziridis has had three shots on target from outside the penalty area and they've all gone in.

He also sits atop the club's assists chart, laying on four Premiership goals.

One of those assists came at Livingston and was followed by a stoppage-time winner as Kyziridis helped turn the game as a half-time substitute.

Since then, Derek McInnes has named the same starting XI for five successive victories and Kyziridis will be among the first of the names on the team sheet as Hearts bid to improve on a run of just one win in their past eight visits to St Mirren in all competitions.

Read all tonight's Premiership picks

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St Mirren are without the suspended Jayden Richardson and Alex Gogic.

Christian Borchgrevink and Frankie Kent both have a chance of being in the Hearts squad for the first time since August but Ryan Fulton (groin) and Finlay Pollock (hamstring) are still missing.

Greg Playfair
Fan writer

Hearts being eight points clear at the top of the Premiership has left a few people in Scottish football absolutely rattled.

There are Rangers supporters already giving up hopes of a title win, Hibs supporters putting their hooped centenary jerseys back in the drawer and looking out a black and white outfit for Wednesday evening to cheer on St Mirren, and Celtic fans rejoicing over the year 1986 and some guy named Albert Kidd on social media.

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has even thrown in the towel and become the second Old Firm manager to leave his post before Halloween in acrimonious circumstances as they struggle to keep pace with Derek McInnes' high-flying Hearts.

It feels like a fever dream and so I'm all for McInnes' call for pragmatism and taking it one game at a time. Although at some point can we realistically start to have ambitions of keeping pace until the end of the season?

There's lots of statistics getting thrown out, including this being Hearts' best league start since 2005. Comparisons to George Burley's side are natural. There's a lot to like about this 2025 team and a lot of similarities with 20 years ago.

Of course, Craig Gordon was involved in both sides, yet it's the quietly impressive Alexander Schwolow keeping goal for us.

Both sides possess an experienced Scottish core in the backline with the likes of Robbie Neilson, Steven Pressley and Andy Webster traded for Stephen Kingsley, Craig Halkett and Stuart Findlay.

Julien Brellier's midfield hardman role is now taken up by Cammy Devlin, who was produced another man-of-the-match performance in the weekend win over Celtic.

Then there's the X-factor out wide on the left with Alexandros Kyziridis producing the same stardust that Rudi Skacel used to provide.

Finally, up top we have quality matched with genuine aggression and desire with Lawrence Shankland and Claudio Braga hoping to strike up as a formidable partnership as Edgaras Jankauskas and Roman Bednar had.

Hearts and Scottish football are currently in unchartered waters, but we should believe we are the makers of our own destiny and not look to other sides.

We don't need to call in for favours or hope other sides have off days – it's well within our control to keep our good run going.

It's getting exciting for sure and this week is a real acid test for us. It's one of only two weeks between now and the end of the year that we have three games in seven days.

As mad as it sounds, we could end this weekend 14 points clear if Falkirk pick up a win against Celtic, whose interim manager Martin O'Neill yesterday backed Hearts for the title.

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

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An eight-point lead at the summit of the Scottish Premiership has Hearts fans refreshing the league table every two minutes.

Don't worry, it's real, Jambos. But what do the numbers tell us about the Tynecastle side's stellar start?

Derek McInnes' men have scored 22 goals and conceded just seven. A goal difference of 15 is 11 better than second-placed and now managerless Celtic, who were comfortably beaten in Gorgie on Sunday.

Hearts have scored three goals in three of their past four games and five of the nine they have played in the Premiership.

There could have been even more against the champions as they beat their season average shots on target (seven compared to 5.7) to Celtic's two, but that's nit-picking.

It was the 13th league game in a row they've scored in - their longest run of games with a goal in the top flight since a run of 17 from 1 March 2014 to 29 August 2015.

McInnes' side are continually getting into the right areas to convert, with 57 final third entries and 37 touches in Celtic's box at the weekend. Celtic managed just 21 of the latter.

There are mountains more for those in maroon to revel in, and revel in they should as their dream becomes more realistic by the day, and number.

But none make for better reading than the first. Eight points clear at the summit of the Scottish Premiership.

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Alexandros Kyziridis hopes his form for Hearts can earn him a maiden call-up for Greece in time for next month's World Cup qualifier against Scotland.

The winger has been a big hit since his summer arrival from Slovakian side Zemplin Michalovce, netting his third league goal in Sunday's 3-1 win over Celtic.

It was a sixth successive Premiership victory for the Edinburgh side, who extended their lead at the top of the table to eight points.

The 25-year-old, who became a father for the first time last week, is now dreaming of selection for his country for the upcoming double-header against Scotland and Belarus.

Greece are already out the running in World Cup qualifying Group C following two defeats to leaders Denmark and a 3-1 loss to Scotland at Hampden.

"Yeah, it's one of my targets, for sure," he said. "It's an honour to play for your national team," said Kyziridis.

"I'm waiting. If they need me, I will be there. And I know that we play against Scotland – that would be amazing. But no one knows, only the manager."

With the birth of his son Charalambos just three days before the win over nearest challengers Celtic, Kyziridis said it had been "a hard week" and also "the best week of my life".

Former Hearts winger Neil McCann says belief will continue to grow in the Scottish Premiership leaders' squad the longer they can remain at the summit.

As a result of their victory over defending champions Celtic on Sunday, the Tynecastle club are now eight points clear after nine games.

Boss Derek McInnes predictably is calling for calm as supporters get carried away. And while McCann agrees, he admits that the dynamic has changed.

"I think everybody outside the Old Firm would welcome someone else winning the title, but to be honest there's so long to go," he said.

"I listened to the manager's comments after the game, Derek McInnes saying about once you get two laps of fixtures and once you've played everybody twice, it has a settled look about it.

"I must admit, a couple of weeks ago I was thinking 'Celtic will be strong' - but Celtic have lost a couple of really big players of late.

"They're not firing, there's a bit of disconnect there, unrest between the fans, the board, the team.

"So suddenly that powerhouse of Celtic, what they've been of late doesn't look as if it's just quite clicking yet. So, the longer they maintain that gap to Celtic, then the stronger they become and the belief grows."

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

That's right, no fewer than seven Hearts players make my team of the week as they strengthened their early-season title credentials with a cracking win against Champions Celtic.

Alexander Schwolow: Dealt smartly with a long ball through to Johnny Kenny early on and pulled off a magnificent save to deny Benjamin Nygren, which looked a certain goal. Another fine block near the end, the German has been a solid and unruffled presence between the sticks for Hearts.

Stuart Findlay: Another warrior performance from Findlay at the back for Hearts. Poise, heart and plenty of quality from the former Celtic youth player.

Craig Halkett: After a run of three goals in three games it was all about the defensive side of things against Celtic. Stood strong once again as Hearts passed this early test of their title credentials.

Beni Baningime: Always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Calmly plugged the gaps in midfield all afternoon at Tynecastle. Reads the game so well.

Alexandros Kyziridis: Electric once again down the left-hand side for Hearts, the Greek caused the Celtic defence alarm time and again at Tynecastle. Always a goal threat, ably demonstrated as he put Hearts 2-1 in front.

Lawrence Shankland: Fired the penalty home to make it 3-1 but there was so much to enjoy from a proper captain's performance. Looks fitter, sharper and happier all round. Seemed to be everywhere, even dropping deep defensively in the second half when it was required.

Claudio Braga: Won the penalty which sealed a famous win for Hearts versus Celtic. Incredible to think he was plucked from the Norwegian second division. Plays with such verve, imagination and precision. Has struck up a real partnership with Shankland.

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Captain Lawrence Shankland says there is more to come from Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts after a statement win over Celtic moved them eight points clear.

The Scotland striker played a key part in the opening goal before sealing the 3-1 victory with a penalty in the second half.

Despite the result, Shankland says he "did not think we were brilliant" in the game and he is convinced his team will improve after a stellar start to the season.

"I think there is [more to come]," he told BBC Scotland. "We started the game really well, then for some reason after we got the goal it seemed to change a wee bit.

"We need to get used to being in winning positions, winning games as consistently as we are.

"I've seen Celtic have shown for a number of years now that quality, every week they're on it like that and they play really well, and that's why they've won so many leagues.

"So if you want to go up and compete with these sorts of teams, you need to bring that level of consistency and that's what we need to aim towards."

Despite their healthy lead at the top, captain Shankland was keen to put a lid on the optimism.

The 30-year-old added: "Celtic have shown throughout the last 15 years probably, consistently winning, consistently winning titles, and they've not done that by accident.

"So they're a good team. It's simply another three points for us, and another three points towards a good start."

We asked for your views on Hearts' statement 3-1 win against Celtic.

Here's what some of you said:

Kevin: It's quite simple, really: some say that Celtic and Rangers are grand, but the boys in maroon are the best in the land.

Derek: Eight-point lead, and a plus-11 goal difference, on second place? Dreamland, that's where Hearts fans are. Who would have thought we'd have such a strong opening, coupled with such a weak Old Firm? We dominated Celtic - possession may say different, but it's what you do with it, and we were magnificent at times. Alexandros Kyziridis was superb, Claudio Braga was immense, Lawrence Shankland put in a strong shift, the defence was strong, everything lined up as we knew it could, and we ran out deserved winners. Am I excited? Of course I am! Do I think we can win the league? Every season, and with much less evidence. Will we win? Ask me in March. Until then, I'll dream, and I'll cheer, and I'll wait for the next game, and the next three points.

Norrie: The work ethic of this team is remarkable, Cammy Devlin, Oisin McEntee and Harry Milne just never stop and what they do is highly effective. Shankland has gained a yard since last season, he doesn't seem to be held back by pressure. The whole team is just exciting to watch and considering the league is only nine games gone, it's such a contrast to this time last year.

Jim: A good performance today and a great three points, but let's go one game at a time. After watching Hearts for 60 years though, I am certainly not getting too carried away. One game at a time and three points on Wednesday in Paisley would do nicely!

Alan: The biggest test for us now is the next game, St Mirren away. They are the only team to beat us, albeit on penalties in the cup, but they are also playing with confidence.

Chris: We've obviously had a great start to the season but we've really only clicked here and there... we'll get better. That said, teams will need to work very hard to beat us. McInnes has them working at a high intensity. I expect the Old Firm to get their acts together and we'll obviously lose points eventually. But, we have real quality sitting on the bench and even in the stands. Come May, the new recruits will have found their feet in the SPFL, we'll have strengthened in January and we'll be in the mix, fighting for the title.

Rampant Hearts powered eight points clear of Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership to bolster their early-season title credentials and deepen the malaise around Brendan Rodgers' side.

How excited are Hearts supporters after Sunday's win?

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