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If it seemed Hearts made a statement by winning with 10 men at Dundee on Sunday, they upped the ante against St Mirren four days later.

A man down after just 14 minutes after Beni Baningime’s red card, the Scottish Premiership pace-setters defied their circumstances again to score twice in the second half and remain six points clear at the top of the table.

Unlike the weekend, when they were a goal to the good and had half the game left to play, it was goalless at Tynecastle on Wednesday when their numbers were cut.

“I said Sunday was the best three points, but that tops it a long way,” said a grinning Derek McInnes afterwards.

But something else the Hearts head coach said stood out.

“We don’t have the riches of Rangers and Celtic,” he said. “We’re still paying ‘Hearts wages’.

“I think there’s this thing out there that we’re up there on a level. We’re the underdog by a long shot.”

The message from McInnes has been clear all season – ‘judge us after two rounds of fixtures’. The campaign has now reached that stage.

And if this is to be Hearts’ Judgement Day, Baningime’s red card somehow helped their cause for salvation.

Going into this game, they were the heavy favourites. St Mirren are circling the drain, an injury crisis in midfield having ripped the heart out of Stephen Robinson’s League Cup winners.

But being expected to win is not something Hearts have always been comfortable with. In their only blip in form this season, they were held by St Mirren, Dundee United, Motherwell and Kilmarnock, and lost to a struggling Aberdeen side.

Those were all games – Motherwell away aside, perhaps – that Hearts would have targeted wins from.

But, instead, it is in games against the Old Firm in which they have shone.

Not since 1960 had they won three consecutive games against their Glasgow rivals. They won the league that season.

They’re currently on a run of four, with Celtic at home on the horizon.

It could be those encounters that make the difference, but it is one such as the triumphs over Dundee and St Mirren that suggest they won’t fall away.

Twice they were a man down, twice they continued to fight and claim wins.

“Talk about statement results,” pundit Allan Preston said on Sportsound. “This is a statement result for Hearts. Down to 10 men since the 15th minute and they deserved to win by more.”

If there is such a thing as a statement draw, Hearts have managed that, too. Trailing 3-0 to Motherwell in late August, it seemed McInnes’ bubble was about to burst. Instead, they came back to draw 3-3.

Now, McInnes must answer questions about Hearts’ title chances and not deflect. However, he’s been around the block and is a canny operator.

“I’ve always had belief that we can keep winning games,” he replied when asked about his own belief in their title chances. “We’re at 50 points at half the games played, and that’s brilliant shooting.

“We set a target in my last meeting before the first league game – 18 wins will get us Europe. We’re at 15 now and we’re not out of January.

“Obviously things change as you move on but we just want to knuckle down.”

One game at a time, then. That’s been the message to the squad so far this season, and why stop now?

It was a sentiment echoed by captain Lawrence Shankland.

“The circumstances go against us again with the red card,” he told BBC Scotland. “But the other night [against Dundee], we went so long with 10 men that it gave us the belief that we could do it.

Hearts fans, at least, can stop playing coy. Like Shankland said, they just need to enjoy it. Who knows when this will happen again?

Here is what a few of them said:

Calum: Another massive statement from Hearts, answering any lingering questions from critics about their mettle and strength of mentality. Serious plaudits must also be given to Derek McInnes and the decisions he’s made under pressure. I think it shows the quality of the manager and his belief in the team that he pushed for a goal in this match rather than trying to lock things down and settle for one point.

John: If Hearts win the league, it will be done with games like this. Teams cannot seem to break them down and that is down to Derek and the team showing pure heart and determination not to lose.

David: Crucial win. Let’s not forget the Old Firm have European games to worry about over the next few weeks where Hearts can focus on getting players fit and prepared for crunch league matches.

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill is calling for patience as the club tries to bring in “necessary” signings in their bid to chase down Hearts and defend their Scottish Premiership title.

O’Neill kept up his 100% domestic record as Celtic boss this season with a 1-0 win away at Falkirk to stay six points behind the league leaders.

However, the insipid nature of the performance – which yielded just two shots on target – will only increase demand from fans to strengthen the squad.

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton described the display as “lacklustre” and asked “where has the recruitment plan gone?”

“We’re making progress on things and certainly by the end of the window we should have some players to supplement this squad,” O’Neill told BBC Scotland.

“I thought my time was done here, so I wasn’t expecting to pick up the pieces again and look at players. Just give us a little bit of time, cut me a little bit of slack and we’ll be OK.

Much of the discussion about Celtic has centred around the need for a striker, or perhaps two.

Benjamin Nygren scored the winner against Falkirk and, in doing so, became the first Celtic player to reach 10 goals in the league this season.

That is despite the fact the Sweden international has not played as a striker, but in midfield or as a winger. And he has only started 14 of their 22 league games.

Celtic are underperforming their expected goals by 10 this season, have only the fourth best conversion rate and rank second bottom for shooting accuracy.

The champions have scored 39 goals from 22 games – after the same number of matches last season they had netted 61 times.

The stats on their productivity in front of goal are damning.

However, former Celtic midfielder John Collins believes an experienced striker could change everything.

“It’s hard playing football without a natural centre forward,” he said on BBC Scotland’s Sportsound. “Someone you can hit and you know it’ll stick.

“If you’re a midfielder you can play one-twos, knowing they can bounce it off you. You can’t do that with Maeda, he likes to run in behind. You can’t link with him.

“He’s up there doing his best, but he’s not a real centre forward for me. A good centre forward can change everything.

“You’re getting half chances, next thing you’re 3-0 up. The chances Celtic do create, if you’ve got a good striker you’re winning comfortably.”

Right-back Julian Araujo has arrived on loan from Bournemouth this month, as Celtic also look to address weaknesses in other areas, amid injuries to some key players too.

Becuase while profligacy has been costly at times this season – especially in the ill-fated Wilfried Nancy eta – it was not their major problem against Falkirk.

They only managed two shots on target and were outplayed in spells by John McGlynn’s side, who hassled in midfield and worked incredibly hard.

As a result, the hosts created the better chances and played some slick football.

Callum McGregor was isolated on the ball in midfield, despite Nygren and Arne Engels starting alongside him.

Collins believes the team also needs another athletic midfielder and a winger too.

“Engels has good games and very average games. Nygren comes in and out of games, and lacks consistency,” the former Celtic assistant said.

“One player who always wants the ball is Callum McGregor. Week in, week out he’s at a level. They’ve got to get more quality in the central area.”

Celtic’s next league game is a critical one away to Hearts, a match that will help define the destiny of the title.

Peter: We were outplayed by a team that were in Championship last season. We need several new players. If O’Neill does not get them he should do what Brendan Rodgers did and walk away.

John: Poor performance. Continually we are told we need signings yet , as with windows recently, we watch for signings every day and so far we have one loan deal. Exasperating when we have a pile of money in the bank.

Alfie: Much much better but Martin knows we need quality players. Still not a solid team.

Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior says he is “accountable” for Robert Sanchez’s mistakes as he defended his goalkeeper following the 3-2 Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg loss by Arsenal.

The Spain international, 28, was arguably at fault for Arsenal’s first two goals at Stamford Bridge, with Rosenior revealing his squad had also been hit by injury and illness.

Sanchez failed to claim Declan Rice’s corner for the seventh-minute opener, allowing Ben White to turn the ball in, while the Gunners full-back’s cross then squirmed through the goalkeeper’s grasp for Viktor Gyokeres to score from close range in the 49th minute.

Arsenal’s Martin Zubimendi also found the net, but Chelsea substitute Alejandro Garnacho struck twice to keep his side in the tie.

“It’s a team goal, it’s not just on Rob [Sanchez],” he said. “I’m asking Rob to do things that he hasn’t done before. I said to him before the game, and I made this really clear, when my players make mistakes, I’m accountable. That’s on me.

“He made a save in the second half that was absolutely world-class. That could have put us out of the tie. He will improve in terms of his understanding.

“That’s Rob’s first game with me, I’ve had two days’ work with him. I have to put my imprint on the team. That’s why I’m here.

“I don’t want to do that to the detriment of the results, but I need to make sure we win now, but we keep improving for where we want to get to this season. It’s a very fine margin.

“There are a lot of positives in Rob’s performance. What you’ll know with me is I protect my players. I’m asking him to do things. If he makes a mistake, doing what I’m asking him to do, that’s on me.

Rosenior was broadly pleased with his team despite the defeat – his first since taking charge – and highlighted positives in almost every individual performance.

“The biggest problem for us is that we had a lot of illness, injury and we’re playing against a very, very good team,” added Rosenior.

Cole Palmer, Reece James and Malo Gusto all failed late fitness tests, while Moises Caicedo was suspended and illness forced Liam Delap and Jamie Gittens on the sidelines too.

On Palmer, Rosenior said: “He had a minor strain in his thigh. If you play a player too early in January with a minor strain, it can turn into six weeks out. I can’t afford to lose Cole Palmer for six weeks because he’s that good.”

He added James had “a big knock on his hip”, but “hopefully he will be back for Saturday”.

“Gittens was ill last night, Liam Delap was due to play – he was ill four hours before the game,” said Rosenior.

“Both of them had really high temperatures – dangerously high. Hopefully they can rest up and will be OK for Saturday.”

Rosenior was keen to point out Chelsea had competed well against an Arsenal side that had lost only twice in all competitions this season, and his team can still fight back in the second leg at Emirates Stadium on 3 February.

“We’re playing probably the best pressing team in Europe today, with their full‑strength team, and we’re missing a lot of players,” he added.

“I was proud of the bravery of the players to try to execute certain aspects of what I asked. In six days, we’ve had two games. I’m not asking for time because I think the group are good enough to win now.