Derek McInnes believes the aim for Kilmarnock is to finish fourth in the league following a 1-1 draw with Heart of Midlothian at Tynecastle Park.

Killie impressed in periods during the game with chances either side of half-time but remain 11 points behind Steven Naismith's men who remain in a healthy position in third.

The Ayrshire Park side confirmed their top six position but there is a sense that Hearts are out of reach.

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"You'd expect Hearts to be challenging for third," McInnes said. "Their objective was totally different to ours at the start of the campaign. I think Steven's doing a good job here, he's accumulated a lot of good players and it's a well-run club doing a lot of good things.

"We've had tight games with them this season. We have far more draws but in Lawrence [Shankland], they've got that type of striker who can make those draws into wins. They're not a one-man team because they're a great squad but Shankland's a special player.

"We committed to two strikers because we couldn't get a striker to get us 20. Marley's on 12 and Vass in on 9 so in simple terms we put two together and we've got our 20 goals."

READ MORE: Hearts held to draw as Kilmarnock shackle Shankland, the player to shine

McInnes explained his decision to play with two forwards and two wingers with the strike pairing in Marley Watkins and Kyle Vassell causing issues, the former netting a stunning equaliser.

"Today a response was needed at half-time, we passed up a couple of really good chances in the first half, none more so than Marley’s header from three or four yards," McInnes said. "Any time we’ve asked the players for that response they’ve been there and I thought we were terrific in the second half.

"Findlay had a great chance at the end to win it. We came with two strikers and played with two wingers and there is a trade-off with that, particularly against a team like Hearts. 

"We know we have a real threat, ball carriers and our front two were magnificent in the second half. The two of them dominated their two centre halves and it was a magnificent goal from Marley. We got a bit greedy trying to win the game but we knew a point would secure top six and that was the main objective."