Gary Mackay: Caley draw shouldn't stop positive vibe at Tynecastle

Things have been going unbelievably well in the last couple of months for Hearts and I think that there should be nothing but positivity from everyone connected with the club right now.

Taking 19 points out of a possible 21 in the last seven games is, to me, a fantastic achievement.

Yes, we dropped two points on Saturday but you have to remember that was against a team who have drawn with Rangers at Ibrox and taken a point from Celtic Park as well.

They are in the middle of a great run right now and they have a fabulous away record on top of that.

The Hearts players have done extremely well to get so many good results under their belts over the last few weeks and they will be desperate to add as many points as they can to their current tally to keep themselves on the coat tails of Rangers and Celtic at the top of the table.

It is a huge achievement to have closed the gap and to be so close to them at this stage of the season, so there should be absolutely no negativity from anyone concerned with Hearts right now.

I think everyone who was at the game on Saturday would probably agree that everyone in the home stands thought that Hearts were going to go on and get a second goal because everything about their play was so positive.

Their play in the second half was excellent but maybe the wee bits of luck and the breaks that we have been getting over the last six matches, just deserted us to an extent at the weekend.

People have to remember the experience that Terry Butcher and Maurice Malpas has got between them and maybe the fact that the game was a draw means that credit is due to both sides.

Inverness were well organised and disciplined and that's down to these two guys, they were never going to come to Tynecastle and just roll over.

Also, the Inverness players will already be thinking to themselves that maybe they could even have a chance of finishing third in the league this season.

They have got a point to prove, a lot of them don't have the profile that you would have if you played for, say, Hearts, so they want to go out and impress when they play in these types of games.

I have always said that you can't really tell too much about the league until the end of November and I think that every single Hearts fan should be highly delighted by the position that the club is in going into the week before Christmas.

I don't think that anyone, if they were being truthful, could have imagined that things would have gone as well for us as they have in the last couple of months.Everyone hoped that when the new management team got their chance to put their stamp on the side, things would improve.

Obviously it would be great to go into the Derby at the turn of the year still unbeaten, but the most important thing is that we get as many points in the beg as we can and just concentrate on ourselves.

As a Hearts supporter, I think that we all have to stand back and applaud what the club has achieved so far. We are in a lovely position going into a busy period of the year, with everyone having to play catch-up on us for that automatic European spot, and also knowing that if Celtic slip up again then we are close enough to try to make the most of it.

The players will be determined that they don't want to end the season with any regrets or "what ifs" running about in their heads.

There's nothing worse than an "if only" when everything is said and done.

Looking ahead to the Boxing Day game against Kilmarnock, I think that you've got to say that Mixu Paatelainen has done just as good a job with Kilmarnock as Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown have done at Tynecastle.

It was maybe the right time for Jim and Billy to leave Rugby Park and it has certainly worked out in Hearts' favour.

We couldn't have asked for a harder away fixture, I don't think. They turned us over at Tynecastle back in October and I'm sure everyone will be doing everything in their power to make sure that doesn't happen again.