HIBERNIAN manager Alan Stubbs all but conceded the SPFL Championship title to Hearts last night then claimed his side were denied the chance to end their Edinburgh rivals' unbeaten league record by referee Steven McLean.

With the two sides locked at 1-1 in the second half at Tynecastle yesterday, the match official waved play on when Miguel Pallardo appeared to collide with Danny Handling in the box.

The eventual draw extends Hearts' unbeaten run in this fixture to five matches, and means they maintain their 19-point advantage over Hibs, although Rangers cut their arrears on the Tynecastle club to 13 with victory over Dumbarton.

"If you look at the replays, I don't think anyone would have argued that we should have had a penalty," Stubbs said. "Pallardo took Danny out in the box, he gave him a nudge in the back when he was going for the ball. If the referee sees it again, it may be a different decision."

Jason Cummings, a boyhood Hearts fan and product of Tynecastle High School who was released as a youngster, opened the scoring against his former club, only for a fine strike from Jamie Walker to preserve Hearts' 19-match unbeaten league run.

They and Welsh outfit the New Saints are the only unbeaten professional teams anywhere in the UK.

"With the way we played, I don't think anyone would have begrudged us three points," said Stubbs. "I would like to be in Robbie's position and if I was I would be confident of winning the league."

Midfielder Scott Allan, whose precision cross played in Cummings for the opener, admitted the focus for the Easter Road side now shifts on to the quest to overtake Rangers in second.

But he feels the club's form entitles them to be confident against anyone in the play-offs. Their last two meetings with the Ibrox side have seen them record the equivalent of a 7-1 win.

"We had a few really good chances towards the end of the game and could have won it," the 23-year-old said. "I thought we controlled most of the game - it's just really frustrating we didn't manage to win.

"To be fair, their boy hit a wonder strike for their goal. It was just like the last time at Easter Road and it's really frustrating. I could probably have got back and got closer to him but he shifted it quickly to his right and it was some strike.

"Fair play to Hearts, they kept plodding away and got a point. We're just disappointed because we wanted to build on last week when we managed to beat Rangers. It's going to be a hard ask now. This was a real chance for us to set a marker down but we couldn't and it's going to be hard to catch Hearts now.

"They are up there because they've started the season better than anyone else and been more consistent.

"But we cannot look back - we need to look forward - and we've definitely improved. We're playing the right way and trying to entertain people. We've just not been able to put teams away despite playing good football. That's been the difference."

"Second place is the real target now. We need to get back to winning ways next week and take it from there. The aim is to get back up to the Premier League and we believe we're capable of doing that. If we got to the play-offs I'd fancy us against anybody over the two legs."