Heart of Midlothian were not meant to be here. Three points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership with four games to go.
They were meant to have fallen away. They were meant to be a mere footnote on the season, earning a few pats on the back.
'Remember when Hearts started the season strongly and topped the league?'
They weren't meant to handle the pressure. Their bubble was meant to have burst. Their bottle was meant to crash.
Yet what has transpired is the opposite. They've not just handled the pressure, they've thrived.
There is evidence of that in the last two matches. They came from behind to find a way to win against Motherwell, bouncing back from the dropped points at Livingston.
Then, at the weekend, they came from behind to win at Easter Road. It was achieved in a different manner, coming up against nine men. There was a calmness, maturity and discipline about the way Hearts went about grinding Hibs down, rather than chaos, desperation and panic.
"We stayed calm. I thought we looked like a team who believed we would win the game," Derek McInnes noted to Hearts Standard .
Doing so saw Hearts extend their lead at the top due to Rangers losing at home to Motherwell, albeit one that didn't come with talk of bubbles bursting.
Blair Spittal's strike, securing the three points, took Hearts to 16 points won from losing positions. Fourteen points have been earned with goals in the 83rd minute onwards. Contrast that with three points lost with goals conceded from the 83rd minute onwards. Those are not numbers that have ever suggested a team cracking under any pressure.
That isn't a fluke either.
That's down to the mentality within the playing squad, which is fed down from the coaching staff.
McInnes said: "You can't achieve anything without an in-built hunger. The points we've picked up late in games is testament to that. The hunger is there, I don't think that's in doubt. I don't think the mentality is in doubt.
"Regardless of how the season plays out... I think all the questions and finger-pointing, the players have answered that in spades this season."
If you spend time around the Oriam, there is a consistency and a relaxation as the squad goes about their daily work. McInnes has mentioned a few times this season about feeling the weight of responsibility . After all, it is he who leads the team.
Interestingly, as of Wednesday, the Rangers game had not been discussed in their preparation. That is deliberate.
McInnes explained to Hearts Standard the elements to ensure that the pressure that comes with a title race and the increased focus don't become overbearing.
"It's about trying to be consistent with how we've been. I think, if you start to do anything too different and too unusual, I'm not sure that's right. Just try and stick to what's been working," he said.
"At this stage of the season, you're not going to get players any fitter now. Obviously, players who have had injuries, you can try and top up that fitness, but the players who have been through the season for the majority, it's just about maintenance and focus and trying to keep freshness, keeping the energy.
"So, when we do train, we train with energy and we try and get the balance right between trying to get that switch off and switched on. I think that's important when you work at a bigger club, that it's not overtaking everything. You've got to try and get those little breakout periods in a week where you try and not think about football and you try and get the rest.
"For the players, we're trying to make sure that they're not caught up too much. As difficult as that is for them, because everywhere they go, they'll be getting the same conversations that I'm getting. People want to talk to you about it. You don't really get away from it.
"I do think for us, when you're in and around the training ground, it's all pretty relaxed. It's pretty normal. You wouldn't think everybody's going about like a coiled spring and just talking about it all the time. It's normal conversations and normal behaviours and just trying to keep it that way, as consistent as possible.
"As we start to do our work and prepare for the game, you start talking about your opponent and then that's the build-up to the game, but what you don't want to do is start those conversations too early in the week.
"Especially Sunday to Monday, there's quite a long lead-in to the game. We've deliberately not spoken anything about the game on Monday as of yet. There's plenty of time for that."
Externally, the game is and will be built up.
Whether it is in the press or amongst fans, in discussions in the pub, online or in their own heads.
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It is important to remember that for Hearts, nothing will be decided on Monday and there is far more pressure on the visitors.
A Hearts win builds on the "momentum, confidence and feel-good factor" that was derived from the win at Easter Road. Should the team lose, it's not the end of the world and there will be no need for catastrophising.
As we have seen throughout the season, there have been twists and turns. But Hearts have proven their ability to bounce back. Outside a four-game spell, the team have followed every defeat and draw with a win.
"I think now it's recognised it was a good weekend for us and Celtic, in the sense that we've both gained on Rangers. But we are well aware that the next round of fixtures, we could be on the wrong end of it if we don't channel everything towards this game now," McInnes said.
"We've taken the good from the game on Sunday, and there was plenty of it, but the next challenge comes really quickly and we've got to be ready for Rangers on Monday.
"As a game, we're looking forward to it, it's eagerly anticipated, it'll be much talked about for obvious reasons, there'll be a lot of emphasis placed on this fixture, but we'll be ready for it."
McInnes has been consistent in his desire for positivity. Hearts are in an excellent position. A position every other team want to be in. A position they have been in for so long as best demonstrated by the graphic below.
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There have been an assortment of contributing factors to that, everything from new arrivals playing big roles and legacy players finding new levels.
One quality has been that ability to bounce back from setbacks. Those setbacks are the ones that have often prompted the talk of bubbles and bottles. When those moments have arrived, McInnes has been keen to move on quickly, not dwell too long on the past, ensuring negativity doesn't linger within the squad.
It has been done effectively.
"I think everybody deals with that differently. It's my job and my staff's job to try and have the most confident player and team we can have. You can put confidence into them in numerous ways. There's a degree of confidence in the squad because of the body of work we've done this season. It's about trying to replicate a lot of what they've already shown this season," McInnes explained.
"If there's any negativity, it comes on the back of results. That's just sometimes the way it is at bigger clubs. That's par for the course and it is not going to change. What we can do is decide to listen to it or not to listen. We just concentrate on ourselves.
"Nobody can tell me any different than what our lads have given us. It's an unbelievable effort. In terms of consistency, performance, in terms of the spirit that they've shown consistently from the get-go, from the first day of training, attacking the work that's been put in front of them, never complaining, just getting on with it. We put demands on them.
"The majority of the squad are playing at a good level, a level they would be happy with individually. It's about maintaining those levels."
It has been interesting listening to the Hearts players and their approach to the title race. Lawrence Shankland revealed that he prepares for games by considering every eventuality, good or bad .
The striker, who plays a huge role behind the scenes as Hearts captain as well as on the pitch, also expressed the mindset of staying focused on the immediate task: win the next game.
"One of my good pals says, you win games, you don't win leagues and it's true. Every individual game obviously gets you points and you eventually accumulate enough, but it's just about concentrating on the game and staying in it, keeping the focus and mentally, we've dealt with that throughout the season pretty well," he said.
Team-mate Craig Halkett has spoken of his enjoyment at being in such a position. He suggested that not having past experience of being in such a position is positive . There are no bad memories. Just someone enjoying being in the moment, as he was when celebrating after the full-time whistle at Tynecastle Park.
McInnes has been delighted with the approach and mindset of his players throughout the season. They have bought into an identity he wanted to instil as soon as he walked through the doors at Tynecastle Park as the club's head coach.
"We just take confidence from each other. I take confidence from what I'm working with. Despite injuries, I still think we can be strong enough to win games throughout the season. I've felt that from early on. It is good that the players feed off that as well," he said.
"The players all seem quite measured when they talk. It's not me telling them what to say. We're all feeling the same.
"There's a certainty in the sense that I know as a manager we'll be good to go on a Saturday. I know the competitive element of the team is always going to be there. I said this is what I wanted my Hearts team to be and that's what my Hearts team would be."
It is easy to suggest that Hearts are not only up against Celtic and Rangers, but history. No team outwith the Old Firm has won the league in 40 years. Hearts have not won the league since 1960. In the 65 seasons since then, only six titles have not been won by either Celtic or Rangers.
The brain likes to use the past to predict the future. The past tells you to expect one of the Old Firm to win the league.
But the past and history are not going to stop Hearts from winning the league. If anything, they can be used to provide added motivation. This team have provided the fans with a season of their lives. No matter what, they will be remembered for so many moments along the journey.
Win the league and they won't just go down in history, but they will be immortal.
But in the here and now, Hearts are still there. Top of the league. They've not wilted under the pressure as has been suggested all season. They've continued to excel.
Four games to go. Four games for everyone, from the players to the fans, to give everything.
