Derek McInnes reveals what he wants from Hearts and issues a message to James Wilson

Derek McInnes implored Hearts to fight for their right to stay top of the Premiership after watching Motherwell slay Hibs on Tuesday evening. McInnes and one of his assistants, Alan Archibald, took in the match at Fir Park. They saw the hosts cruise to a comfortable 2-0 win ahead of Hearts’ visit there on Saturday.

The Edinburgh club are four points clear at the top of the Premiership table despite losing their first league game of the season last weekend at Aberdeen. McInnes praised Motherwell’s performance and advised his players that they must show the required spirit in order to remain top of the league in the coming weeks.

Hearts visit Motherwell this weekend and then host Kilmarnock next Wednesday before a trip to Celtic the following Sunday. Celtic are four points behind in the table but have a game in hand. McInnes is focused solely on Jens Berthel Askou and Motherwell for now. “I thought they were good on Tuesday. It was an extension of what they've been. I think they have started the season really strongly. Obviously, they're getting a lot of plaudits,” he said.

“It's their style of play, and you've got to compliment them on how they've started the season. I think the manager has come in and done a brilliant job. Sometimes you've got a lot of foreign managers coming in and you don't really see what they're trying to do. Sometimes they can say they're going to do this and going to do that, but I actually think of all the European managers that have come over in the last few years, I think he's got a clear idea of what he wants. I think he's done a brilliant job.

“I think what you see is an improvement on players who were there before. I think you can see that in their team. I thought they were good last night. I thought tactically they were good and I thought in possession they were good. They deservedly won the game. I watched their game against Kilmarnock on Saturday when we were driving up to Aberdeen, and they were worthy winners at a tough venue as well.”

Askou’s side led Hearts 3-0 at Tynecastle in August before being pegged back to 3-3. The Danish coach used a three-man defence against Hibs but may back to four defenders when Hearts arrive. “I think we've got to consider everything,” said McInnes. “When you look at an opposition, you're always maybe trying to firstly guess the system and then guess the personnel within that. It's important that we've got the answers to deal with both set-ups on the pitch. I think when you play an opposition, you just need to try and be prepared for every eventuality.”

The 1-0 defeat at Aberdeen was the first time McInnes has experienced a league loss since arriving at Tynecastle in May. He stressed the need for all concerned to react properly over the next few games if Hearts want to remain Premiership leaders. “Yes, we had a wee meeting on Wednesday morning. We never really mentioned Motherwell. We will deal with that in the next couple of days,” he said.

“We just spoke about us with a wee bit of feedback video from the weekend and then a wee reminder that we're still top of the league and we're well into November. We would have taken this at the start of the season and we've got to make sure the motivation remains high, the enthusiasm, the fires are all lit to keep doing what we're doing.

“When you look at the league table, it's still a nice look to see us where we are. But we recognise that, for us to stay there, we're going to have to fight fiercely for it. Hopefully the next two games, ahead of the Celtic game, we can go and try and get a couple of wins.”

Teenage striker James Wilson played as a late substitute against Aberdeen having not made a first-team appearance for three months. His last start for Hearts was that 3-3 draw against Motherwell. He has had to show patience to wait for an opportunity under McInnes despite scoring goals for Scotland Under-21s. The manager’s message is not to give up. “I don't know if it’s a reward. When he's not playing, it's just hard to get everybody involved,” explained McInnes. “Obviously, we took in the Scotland Under-21 games for James. He didn't play the second game, which was a bit of a disappointment.

“We get the benefit of watching training every day. With young players, sometimes there can be ups and downs. Throughout it all, he's a really hard worker, really conscientious, and a boy that we speak to regularly about his game and things that he can improve on. I wanted to be consistent with two strikers against Aberdeen [Landry Kabore and Claudio Braga]. With James coming on, we felt Aberdeen were defending deeper. It was more a penalty box-type striker.

“We thought we would get a few crosses in the box the last five, ten minutes, and so it kind of played out a wee bit. He made a couple of wee runs. With Kabore's chance, if he squares it, James has got a tap-in and he's in the middle of the goal. He makes a good run to create a cross. He makes a good run just as he catches it with his header. We just felt he was the right sub at that time. But James throughout, from start to finish, he's a boy who we think a lot of, and clearly he's got a lot of things he can still improve on. It's our job to help him.”