Derek McInnes wants a gutsy and bullish Hearts performance against Rangers in his first visit to Ibrox with the Edinburgh club. Saturday’s William Hill Premiership match carries plenty significance for both teams after contrasting starts to the new campaign. Hearts are unbeaten and sitting joint-top of the table, while Rangers failed to win any of their four league games.

There is pressure on the new Ibrox manager Russell Martin, however McInnes is only concerned with Hearts’ approach. He is demanding courage and determination at a venue where the Tynecastle side rarely win. Since 2000, they have visited Rangers 46 times and left victorious on just three occasions. The last of those was back in August 2014.

“Any time you go to Ibrox, whether they’re in really good form, as is often the case, or whether they’re struggling for a bit of form, I think you’ve just really got to concentrate on your own performance,” stated McInnes. “Don’t expect any favours from anybody. You’ve just got to really concentrate on being as good as we can be. I do think it’s more than just the performance that’s required.

“I think it’s personality, aggression, confidence, playing with bollocks, playing with a bit of confidence and making sure that we minimise their attacking threats and try to make it the game that you want it to be rather than the game Rangers want it to be – particularly at home in front of 50,000 people. We want to make sure we have full concentration in the performance that we want to deliver.

“I don’t know how many of my players have won there, but I think it’s important that they act as if they know how to win there and behave that way. I think it’s important that we just back ourselves wherever it is. Whether it’s Tynecastle or away from home, we’ve got a performance in us. I think there’s enough experience in the team. Obviously, there are a lot of foreigners who have never played at Ibrox, but there are still a lot of players who have.

“Our record is not great there as a club. So, the ones who have been there and maybe had a couple of sore ones there and disappointments there, it’s a different squad, it’s a different game, and we just need a really positive mindset. Before a ball is even kicked, you need to have that confidence that we’re going to get a result.”

The vast majority of Hearts’ 11 new signings have not experienced the Ibrox hostility. Whether that is a positive or not remains to be seen. “We’ll probably know that after the game. I’m finding out about the players as we go along,” said McInnes. “This is different to League Cup group games, where you roll teams over. This is a different test for all the players.

“We’re going to need the ability to defend well and be organised and restrict Rangers because, let’s not kid ourselves, they’ve still got good players. Rangers have got players that can hurt you with enough space. They have a striker, [Bojan] Miovski, who has come in and knows the Premiership and can take chances. We’re well aware that they’ve got good individual players. I do think it’s a team performance that wins games at Ibrox and it’s important for us to deliver that.”

McInnes is undecided on whether to mention Hearts’ Ibrox record to his squad during pre-match meetings. “Maybe, I don’t know. I think for us, it’s just another opportunity to try and keep a positive start,” he remarked. “We have 10 points out of 12. We’re going into this next little cycle of games before the next international break. If you chop the season up and compartmentalise these games and just see how many points you can get for the next three matches, I think it’s an opportunity to do that.

“Even this early on in the season, I think it’s too early to judge teams. I’ve always said that. It’s normally after the first couple of rounds of fixtures you can maybe get a fair assessment of where people are and where teams are at. But certainly for us, while we are off to a decent start, you just want to try and keep that going as long as we can. A positive result at Ibox doesn’t do us any harm and that’s what we’ll be trying to do, obviously.”

A look at the league table underlines the positive start Hearts have put together. Combined with talk of future league title challenges from the new Tynecastle investor Tony Bloom, supporters are hopeful that success is in the pipeline. McInnes knows the fickle nature of top-level football, though, and refuses to get carried away.

“I get all that and I understand all that. Maybe some people are a bit more optimistic going into this time around than they’ve been previously, I don’t know,” he said. “For us, regardless of the result on Saturday, I think it’s important it’s just taken for what it is. It’s not going to be too significant at the early stages of the season, I don’t think, either way.

“A significant win at a team who normally finish above us, it would do no harm for us in terms of confidence and real belief. I still have a belief that we’re going to have a good season, regardless of what happens on Saturday. But I think for everybody, the whole narrative and all that, it wouldn’t do us any harm to go and get a win there.

“It’s still early on in the season. I’m delighted with what the players have given us. I don’t want to dilute it. It’s a strong start and I’m delighted with that, but I think a better gauge of where we’re at is after the first couple of rounds of fixtures. I think it’s important that we maintain and improve as we go along. I still think we’re going to have to improve if we’re going to reach the expectations that have been put on us.”

If Hearts need time to evolve, so do Rangers under Martin. Whether there is sufficient patience at Ibrox for that to happen is another matter. “I don’t know Russell Martin, but he looks like a good man. He’s a fine manager. It’s obviously not been the strongest of starts for them but I think, for any manager in a new position, you’ve just got to let them manage, let them do their stuff.

“I think Rangers are a side who have got good players but, for us, it’s just about us concentrating on ourselves whether Rangers are good or not on Saturday. I’m not really that bothered about that. I just want to make sure we’re bothered about a strong Hearts performance and hopefully that’s enough to get a win.”