Derek McInnes has been speaking to the media before Hearts host Dundee in the Premiership this weekend.
Here are the key lines from the Tynecastle boss:
Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin are available having returned to training this week after injury lay-offs – "it looks as if they've not been away" – and McInnes says the key duo's comeback gives the squad and fans a boost.
He adds: "Lawrence, until he went out of the team through injury, was the best striker in the league and Cammy for me was arguably the best midfielder in the league so it's good to have both boys back at such a crucial time in the season."
McInnes will have to "weigh up" whether they are ready to start and says: "There's obviously a temptation with that but we also don't want to put ourselves in a position where you put both boys at risk and then we lose them again."
Harry Milne, who has a slight calf strain, and Beni Baningime haven't trained all week. Tomas Magnusson suffered a fractured cheekbone in last weekend's defeat at Kilmarnock and will miss Saturday's game but should be available after that to play while wearing a mask.
With Hearts' lead at the top now down to two points, McInnes says there is "not a lot of room for error" for all teams in the title race and none of the top four are "really catching fire" in recent weeks.
On what went wrong in defeat at Killie, he says: "We were quite bold with our approach. It was the same team that played so well against Aberdeen but we never started the game well enough and we've got to be mindful of that."
While McInnes sees Hearts as the title "underdog" against "heavyweights" Celtic and Rangers who have "so many obvious advantages over us", he insists: "We've got real strength and a real will to do well, a real togetherness and we're screaming with ambition to do well."
On the pressure of the title race, McInnes says: "I think every time we lose a game, people are quite happy to point the pressure thing. When we win games, you don't get that. That's just the way it is and that's just for us, it's been a case of can we stay at the top of the league for as long as we can."
He is glad Hearts are still "relevant" rather than being mid-table and watching the title fight with envy.
McInnes fully believes Hearts will have a "special end" to the season and does not want to talk about having no regrets because "it's as if it's going to end up in disappointment".
He adds: "We need to try and get back to the winning sequences [we had] at the start of the season, which elevated us into the position where people started to talk about us."
McInnes was "not surprised" there are no Hearts players in the Scotland squad but is "disappointed" as he feels some of his squad have "earned the opportunity".
He adds: "While there's disappointment that they're not in this squad, you all know how things can change and whether it's through injury or whatever it will be, players get opportunity. There's enough motivation for them to get on with here but if there's any added motivation to try and be part of a World Cup squad then of course it can only help."
Saturday's game is Foundation of Hearts day at Tynecastle after fans' funding reached a £20m milestone and McInnes praised the "significant achievement that deserves to be celebrated".
