Wouter Vrancken and Derek McInnes incident explained as Hearts hope on Rogers Mato injury after Rangers draw

Wouter Vrancken and Derek McInnes both insisted there is no issue between them after Hearts and Rangers drew 2-2 at Tynecastle Park. The two managers seemed irked at one another at full-time, with Vrancken referencing their handshake and McInnes claiming he left the Belgian such a strong squad when he departed Hearts for Rangers in June.

The two men spoke at full-time and were asked in the post-match media conference about the incident. Rangers took an early lead in the game through Kevin Kelsy, but Hearts recovered in the second half to take a 2-1 lead through Claudio Braga and Calvin Miller. Elwethu Makhanya’s 89th-minute header secured a dramatic point for the visitors.

Vrancken and McInnes shook hands at the end but the Hearts head coach seemed less than impressed and questioned McInnes before they headed up the tunnel. “It wasn’t much, actually. I think when you fight for your team, everybody fights for their own team and works hard for their own team,” said Vrancken. “I have the biggest respect for him, for what he does at Rangers and what he did here, as I already said before the game. When you draw, lose or win, I think you have to have a genuine handshake. But we spoke at the end, and it's all fine.”

McInnes then gave his perspective. “No, all good,” he said. “I think he was just thanking me for how grateful he is for leaving him such a strong squad here.”

Hearts suffered another injury during the game when wingers Rogers Mato was forced off after going down off the ball in the first half. Coaching staff are now hoping he does not become the ninth player to join the Tynecastle injury list. “I don't know yet. He says he thinks he was coming off at the right time, so hopefully it's not too bad,” said Vrancken. “But, as we've already said here, until you know the results of the examinations or scans, it's difficult to say.”

Hearts face Hibs on Sunday in the Premier Sports Cup final but Vrancken is not clear if any injured players will return in time. “I don't know, I don't know. Maybe Stu Findlay? We'll see, we'll see. I don't know yet,” he admitted.

Hearts were disappointed not to win the game after dominating large periods of the second half. Losing such a late goal left them disappointed, although Vrancken also identified positives. “A bit of both, actually. I think when you concede a goal so late, you're always disappointed because I think we deserved the three points today,” he said. “You're always disappointed, especially because you want to reward the players for what they've already done during this run of games and given the situation we're in, as you all already know. It would have been a great win, but it was still a massive performance.”

Asked about the free-kick from which the equaliser came, Vrancken added: “I was disappointed. I thought it was soft.” He went on to praise his players for their resilience during a punishing period of nine games in a month. This was game six of the nine. “It's amazing. I can't tell you how proud I am of their performance, their team spirit and their fighting spirit,” said Vrancken. “You're playing against a really good side who want to win the title, who spent a lot of millions during the summer and who aren't playing in Europe, so they have fewer games. They also had an extra day of recovery going into this match.

“When you consider their individual qualities and everything else, and then look at this performance from our players, including the difficulties we've had out of position and the situation we've been in, which we've already talked about many times, I'm really proud of what they did tonight. It's nice to see that the players are frustrated. They're not so much frustrated as disappointed because they also felt that they had lost two points here. We had to win it. We had to take the victory.

“Especially when you consider how the game unfolded, going a goal behind because of a mistake, then producing a really good first half and maintaining that level afterwards. We stayed together and fought for the win. The team spirit was amazing. It's nice to see that, despite the situation we're in, the players can be disappointed. You could see that disappointment in the dressing room because they felt they'd lost two points, rather than being happy with a point against a team like that. As a coach, I'm really happy to see it.”

McInnes said he expected to be the target from boos and jeers from the home support after leaving Tynecastle in the summer. “Scottish football is what it is. I didn’t expect anything different, and why should I? I get it. I totally get it,” he remarked. “I liked coming round and seeing all my ex-players and all the players I signed.

“I actually met some of the players I’d signed for the first time. It was quite surreal, but seeing all the staff here and all my former players was brilliant. I had a brilliant time here. There was only fondness, so that’s part of it. But once the whistle goes, I know people aren’t going to be kind to me and I totally understand that. It doesn’t change how I feel about this club and my time here.”