Head coach Derek McInnes heaped praise on his players, following the Jambos’ 2-0 victory at Ibrox on Saturday.
A goal in each half from skipper Lawrence Shankland proved enough to ensure all three points returned to Gorgie and McInnes hailed the 90-minute performance his side delivered.
“I’m delighted for my players,” he told Hearts TV at full-time.
“I thought they put so much into it. We spoke before the game about the need to come here and be bullish and confident and I thought we had a good way about us in the first half. We thoroughly deserved to go in front, and it was a brilliant finish from Lawrence.
“If we're nitpicking, we probably could have been maybe another one up. I thought in the first half, when we sat in the low block, I thought we were very comfortable.
“When we took the opportunity to go and get after Rangers and really test their ability to build the game from a deeper position, I thought we did that side of it really well. We thought we added to the anxiety and didn't let Rangers play their natural game.
“For the players, to do that, you've got to put so much work in. It's not just having the intelligence to do it, but it's having the effort to do it.
“We spoke at half-time about it and if any of them thought that coming to Ibrox and 45 minutes was going to be enough, it's not. You've got to put in a 90-minute performance to win here and that's what we got.
“Other than a spell early into the second half, I thought we were comfortable.”
McInnes also praised the impact of his substitutes, who provided fresh energy and maintained the high standards that had been set in the first 45.
“When Rangers go with the two strikers, we negated that, and we had the answers. Obviously, Kingsley coming off with his calf wasn't great, but it's just a bit of cramp.
“But we had the answers on the bench to negate that. Once we get the second goal, a brilliant run from Harry [Milne] and Lawrence scoring the penalty kick off the rebound.
“That was absolutely brilliant for us, in terms of giving us real oxygen at that stage of the game, real belief now that the job was going to get done.
“It's a hammer blow to Rangers when that second goal goes in, so it was difficult for them. I thought [Elton] Kabangu was outstanding. Honestly, he was exactly what we needed at that time of the game.
“Big Thomas almost scored near the death with a brilliant counter-attacking move. I thought, in the main, we deserved to win.
“I think that needs to be said because sometimes you come here and even when you've scraped a result, you've been peppered and you're hanging in and you've maybe rode your luck. We were good enough not to depend on that today and thankfully we've picked up a very important three points.”
“I want my team to be, having that confidence. We've only just started; we're only just in our infancy working with these boys and I think that it's a good reference point for us now, because everybody and anybody was quick to tell me how poor our record was coming here. The reference point now is clear that we've won at a tough venue, we've had to play really well to do it and we've raised our levels.
“I do think there's more in us and it's my job to try and get more out of us as we go along. I'm really pleased with what the players gave. We can enjoy tonight now and just sit back and see the game tomorrow and see what it takes us in terms of that side of it.
“We're only five games in, the league's only in its infancy, but I do think there's loads of encouragement for everybody, supporters, myself, the players, that hopefully there's a bit more in us this season.”
