Ex-Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson rooting for Hearts in Scottish Premiership title race, says Derek McInnes
Sir Alex Ferguson is rooting for Hearts in the title race; league leaders are four points clear of Rangers and six ahead of Celtic; head coach Derek McInnes reveals fresh injuries for Ageu, Stuart Findlay and Craig Gordon; Lawrence Shankland to return for final pre-split fixture
Wednesday 25 February 2026 14:27, UK
Hearts head coach Derek McInnes has revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson is rooting for his side to win the Scottish Premiership title.
The legendary former Manchester United manager was the last non-Old Firm boss to win a top-flight league championship in Scotland, lifting the trophy with Aberdeen in 1985.
Ferguson and McInnes have been in regular contact throughout this campaign, with the 13-time Premier League winner set to be in the Tynecastle stands for Saturday's match against his former club Aberdeen.
- Four-way Scottish Premiership title race? Vote for your champion!
- Scottish Premiership games coming up live on Sky Sports
- Got Sky? Watch now on the Sky Sports app 📱
- Not got Sky? Get instant access with no contract 📺
"I'm pretty sure that is the case [Ferguson rooting for Hearts], but I don't know if he's phoning other managers!" joked McInnes.
"It'll be good to see him. I asked him if he fancied coming along and he said 'aye'.
"He's going to the Old Firm game on Sunday, so he's coming to see us now on Saturday as well.
"He's good to give you little pointers and little nuggets of experience that he had in run-ins and things like that, so he's been good as gold.
"Every conversation I have with him, I feel privileged and I always get something from it.
"He's done title wins and these sort of situations when there's a lot of high pressure, and obviously the irony is that it was his team who last won it [outside the Old Firm].
"I take notes as I'm talking to him, because even when he's just speaking and talking away, you'll pick up things.
"But he knows my players, he's well aware of who's who, and some of them can't get their heads around that when I tell them!
"I mentioned Cammy Devlin to him the other day. I said to Cammy, 'He said we missed Devlin'.
"Cammy went, 'He never said that'. So I said, 'He says you need to pass forward more, you need to switch your play more and you need to shoot more'.
"He actually didn't but now he thinks he did!"
More injury woes as Hearts chase historic title win
The Jambos are four points clear of Rangers and six points clear of Celtic at the top - who play each other live on Sky Sports on Sunday.
That provides an opportunity for the league leaders to increase their lead on at least one, if not both, of their title rivals when they welcome Aberdeen to Tynecastle on Saturday.
However, they have been dealt a big triple injury blow.
McInnes confirmed that record signing Ageu is out for the remainder of the season, defender Stuart Findlay will be sidelined for six weeks, and goalkeeper Craig Gordon will miss the next Scotland camp at the end of March.
Their injury tally now stands at 12 first-team players.
Oisin McEntee, Beni Baningime and Sabah Kerjota are "50/50" for the weekend, while long-term absentees Cammy Devlin, Lawrence Shankland, Stephen Kingsley, Christian Borchgrevink, Calem Nieuwenhof and Findlay Pollock remain out.
Captain and talisman Shankland is expected to return in time for Hearts' final pre-split fixture against Motherwell on April 11.
