But McInnes, who was missing Beni Baningime, Cammy Devlin and Lawrence Shankland, was pleased with how his charges performed in the top-of-the-table encounter and is confident they can remain in contention to lift their first Scottish title in 66 years in the months ahead.
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“I’m delighted where we are,” he said. “We’ve been there a while now. It’s more than four months. It’s not a purple patch. It’s something that we’re comfortable with. I’m enjoying where we are.
“We’re well aware there’s big clubs and good teams desperate to be where we are. We’ve got to be ready for that challenge as we go along. But I’ve said all along that I think we’re going to have to keep improving. I believe there’s wins in us. If the fans keep that connection with the team today, who knows where it can take us.
“I think the belief’s been there for a while, to be fair. I think we turned up today myself and the players, we turned up believing we can win the day. There is obviously a bit of disappointment that we haven’t. But you need a lot of things to go your way.”
McInnes continued, “There’s no two ways about it. Sunday and Monday we were all a wee bit despondent when we get the news of the injuries. But overcoming these types of challenges is part of it.
“It’s unrealistic to think you’re going to go through a full season without having to overcome challenges. But it’s good that we’ve got boys who have been waiting on the sidelines who played their part today, like [Nandry] Kabore.
“It makes us play a bit differently. I thought he had some good moments in the game as well. Bringing Marc [Leonard] in will help us. There has to be a bit of ice and put your foot in the ball. I thought Marc was terrific in that sense.
Claudio Braga celebrates scoring a late equaliser for Hearts against Celtic today (Image: PA)
“It was a difficult start for him. But I think it tells you a lot about the boy and the personality that he kept taking it and he put his foot on the ball. He was very important to us. We are going to enjoy working with him.
“But throughout the team, I don’t think any Hearts player, subs or boys starting, felt that we weren’t going to win the game. That pleases me to no end.
“We’re disappointed we haven’t won. But coming from behind twice against a team of Celtic’s quality, regardless of their exploits in Europe on Thursday night, is not the worst point for us in the cold light of day.”
Martin O’Neill was unhappy with the red card which Auston Trusty was shown for bringing down Kabore – and McInnes admitted he was surprised to see a Celtic player sent off in a domestic fixture for the first time in 84 games.
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“My take on it is, and this is what the fourth official said to me, is that they needed to be sure Kabore would get a shot away,” he said. “I thought, ‘He’s definitely going to get a shot away’. He broke the line.
“Celtic don’t get red cards domestically. It was a bit of a shock when VAR turned it and made it a red. But for me it looked like a red card offence.”
McInnes exchanged angry words with a member of the Celtic backroom team after Benjamin Nygren’s opener and he revealed what had irked him following the final whistle.
“That’s one place I’ll not be going!” he said. “It was nothing to do with Martin or Shaun [Celtic assistant Maloney]. It was just one of the inexperienced coaches who got a bit carried away. That’s all I’ve got to say on it.”