Those clinging to the view that Hearts can’t possibly win the Scottish Premiership should be doubting themselves by now. Rangers are shot to bits after Kevin Muscat became the latest manager to turn the manager’s job down, Celtic are teetering on the brink of another Covid season. Derek McInnes and his team should fancy this.

The usual caveats apply with this one. It’s early in the season, only eight games in. This time last year, Aberdeen staged a storming comeback from 2-0 down at Parkhead to announce their arrival as challengers and everyone knows how that ended. Celtic swatted them aside.

The difference between then and now is obvious. Twelve months ago, Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Nicholas Kuhn spearheaded a team in green-and-white banging in goals from all angles.

Yesterday, a Honda Civic of a Celtic side, the poorest since Tony Mowbray’s tenure – if not the 1990s – slid to their first defeat to Dundee at Dens Park in 37 years. They look incapable, on current form, of swatting a fly.

In their last five games, the champions have suffered two defeats, two...