This afternoon’s events might unfold in various ways, but one thing is certain: Hearts will proudly hold the top spot in the Scottish Premiership come Christmas.

Achieving this position is significant. The last time a team outside the Old Firm led the league at this point in the season was Aberdeen, back in 1993.

As the season approaches its halfway mark, the big question is how substantial Hearts’ lead will be and how much pressure they will feel from those trailing behind.

At present, Hearts are six points ahead of a struggling Celtic team, with Wilfried Nancy’s squad preparing to face Aberdeen in Glasgow today.

Hearts are set to play against Rangers, knowing that a win would extend their lead to 12 points over the Ibrox team, although Hearts would have played one more game.

Cammy Devlin, Elton Kabangu and Blair Spittal share a joke in Hearts training 

Stephen Kingsley rifles home his effort in Hearts’ recent win over Falkirk 

Derek McInnes and his team insist they are feeling no pressure. However, this claim isn’t entirely accurate. This match marks the fourth time Hearts are facing either of the Old Firm teams this season, and impressively, they have emerged victorious in all three previous matches.

They beat Rangers 2-0 at Ibrox in the dying embers of Russell Martin’s brief and bewildering reign. They have also done the double over Celtic, the most recent contest seeing Hearts prevail 2-1 in Glasgow a fortnight ago.

Yet, all three of those victories were achieved when predominantly viewed as the underdog. For the first time this season, Hearts now go into a game against a title rival expected to win.

It offers an intriguing dynamic. On the other side, Danny Rohl has stressed that the outcome of today’s match will not be decisive either way in the title race. He is correct. Such has been the bizarre and unpredictable nature of this season, it would be most unwise to make any bold or definitive proclamations this far out from the finish line.

Regardless of what happens at Tynecastle and Celtic Park today, the second half of the season is bound to throw up more twists and turns than a winding backstreet in Edinburgh’s old town.

This could be the most remarkable of seasons in that it may only take just over 80 points or so to actually win the league.

Celtic are lurching from one disaster to another under Nancy, and there is now serious doubt over whether the Frenchman will even be trusted to lead the club beyond the New Year.

Rohl’s impact at Rangers has been more positive. He arrives at Tynecastle still unbeaten in 11 matches in the league, grinding out results with what meagre resources have been made available to him.

The great unknown in all of this is how will Hearts’ nerve hold up down the stretch? Excellent over the first half of the season, they are now moving into unknown territory.

This will be the litmus test for Rohl and his Rangers side. If they can go to Tynecastle and get a result, and find a way of clinging on until January reinforcements arrive in the form of new players, it will fuel talk of a title tilt.

While Hearts celebrate an unlikely win at Celtic Park, the champions were left to contemplate defeat

Claudio Braga, one of the players of the season, finds the net in the win at Celtic Park  

The very notion of that would have felt ludicrous when Rohl took over in October, at a stage when the club were sixth in the table and had won only one of their opening eight league matches.

For the most part, Rohl’s team have dined on lesser fare since his arrival. They are churning out wins, the most recent of which was a brutal 1-0 triumph over Hibs at Ibrox on Monday.

Regularly switching between a back three and a back four, the tactical dexterity of the the young German head coach has enabled his team to find different ways of winning matches.

Critics will note the reliance on scrappy victories, the absence of sustained dominance or free-flowing football. But the limitations of what Rohl is working with cannot be overstated.

He has been dealt a squad sorely lacking in quality and also with a lengthy injury list. He spoke on Friday of already having several new recruits lined up for the January window.

Yet Rohl continues to excel in the only currency that matters at Ibrox, one which his predecessor Martin never understood; winning matches.

After the win over Hibs on Monday night, Rohl said: ‘It is not always about playing tiki-taka and the nicest football. Sometimes it is about effort, effort, effort. And winning.’

This is the essence of what it takes to manage Rangers. The success of a manager does not hinge on playing beautiful football, but their ability to prevail amid the thunderous weight of expectation.

Stripped back to its most basic level, this is the fabric of the club. Fans do not crave sexy football, they crave winning. The fact Rohl is delivering that with depleted resources his testament to his ability as a coach.

In Gorgie this afternoon, they will face the league leaders at a venue that amplifies every frailty and exposes every weakness.

For all the progress, the question remains. Can this Rangers side claw their way back into the title reckoning, or will this prove to be a match which highlights the limits of a rebuild still in its infancy?

The fact we are even discussing the possibility of a three-way title race at this stage of the season is most welcome.

Scottish football has long been starved of this kind of jeopardy. It has been far too long since we have known such a challenge against the natural order and the duopoly of green and blue.

Danny Rohl faces a test at Tynecastle, where his side could put a dampener on the hosts 

Hearts are the rebels thriving in the glorious anarchy of it all. The Old Firm’s grip has loosened, the throne could soon be vacant, and McInnes’ side are donning maroon robes and planning a new coronation.

Would it be too bold to suggest that victory this afternoon would make them title favourites? McInnes would no doubt be aghast at the very idea.

But Hearts can only play this down for so long. Rangers are desperately trying to cling on until January, whilst Celtic are a club eating themselves from the inside out.

An afternoon of great expectations awaits at Tynecastle. It will be a day when Hearts’ title ambitions start to crystallise, or Rohl’s Rangers rebuild gathers pace and strikes a telling blow.