Heart of Midlothian manager Derek McInnes has dismissed concerns over controversial fixture scheduling, declaring his team would happily contest their title-deciding matches "in a car park" if necessary.
McInnes responded to fan complaints after the Scottish Professional Football League released the final five fixtures of the Premiership season, which sees Hearts face a challenging away match against reigning champions Celtic on the final day—May 16—rather than enjoying the traditional home advantage typically afforded to league leaders.
"We could play them in a car park, I'll be honest with that," McInnes stated, acknowledging supporter frustrations while emphasizing his squad's singular focus. "I actually don't really care from our point of view where we play and the times and all the rest of it."
The SPFL explained the unusual scheduling resulted from logistical constraints preventing both Glasgow and Edinburgh clubs from hosting simultaneous final-day matches while avoiding city derbies. The decision means Hearts—currently leading a thrilling three-way title race with Rangers and Celtic—will have only about 600 traveling supporters at Celtic Park for what could be their first championship-clinching moment since 1960.
"That's disappointing, and I can understand the frustration from that," McInnes admitted. "Let's hope that we are getting into that game with plenty to play for and we've got a lot of work to do before then."
Multiple kickoff times have been altered for television coverage, disrupting the traditional Saturday 3 p.m. slots many fans prefer. "It's not great for the fans that they don't get Saturday three o'clock," McInnes noted, "but I think, having three away games, it was probably difficult to fit everything in."
Despite the scheduling controversies, McInnes expressed excitement about Hearts' position in the title race. "We're just delighted to be part of the whole conversation, delighted that we're going to be in amongst it and looking forward to the games when they come up," he said. "These fixtures will sort everything out. They're brilliant fixtures."
The manager acknowledged the SPFL's challenging position in balancing competing interests. "I get how not everybody's going to be happy. I think the league have got a tough job to try and keep every club happy and every set of supporters happy."