Teetering on the summit, the Tynecastle side will cling to the knowledge that the title is still in their hands. Yet games like the 2-2 draw with Livingston suggest their grasp has become slippery and insecure.

You can hear the Celtic and Rangers fans now, lining up to accuse Derek McInnes and his team of repeating the mistakes of the dim and distant past. Buckling at the knee under the sheer weight of pressure.

History shows that they might still be right. Since Dumbarton and Rangers agreed to share the first-ever title after a Cathkin Park play-off in May 1891, the Scottish league has been contested 130 times in total. Outwith the war years, when hostilities paused competitive games, 110 seasons have ended with Rangers or Celtic finding a way.

The Glasgow giants have claimed 42.6 per cent of the titles each while the other 19 were won by Aberdeen (4), Hearts (4), Hibernian (4), Dumbarton (2), Dundee United (1), Motherwell (1), Kilmarnock (1), Dundee (1) and the defunct Third Lanark (1).

Teams from outside Glasgow have won just 14 per cent of the championships contested and that outlines the...