Strong Hearts will be required, all right, to put up with this outrageous degree of nervous tension between now and the end of the season.

Derek McInnes’ men are still top of the table. Last weekend’s hiccup against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park has been put to bed. Cammy Devlin and Lawrence Shankland, the real driving forces behind the Gorgie outfit being in this position on the brink of history, are now back on the field after lengthy spells out with injury.

But, by Jove, none of those positives offered any consolation or comfort for the home support during those closing moments in which 10-man Hearts hung on for grim death to defend a lead delivered by a 77th-minute header from Oisin McEntee.

Despite having only just gained the upper hand in the wake of a close-fought first half, it wasn’t easy as the game entered its final quarter to see where that badly needed winner from Hearts was going to come from. How that fourth 1-0 home win in a row might come about.

Indeed, there were concerns the deadlock-breaker might come at the other end. When Marc Leonard lined up to take the free-kick that led to the clincher, Dundee had just come desperately close when substitute Simon Murray had got his foot on to a cutback from Fin Robertson and watched the ball spin agonisingly on to the top of the net.

As it was, Leonard’s delivery from the dead-ball was exactly what was needed. It drifted diagonally to the back stick and McEntee, back in the starting line-up himself following a period of injury, got his head flush on it.

McEntee celebrates his late goal which gave Hearts all three points 

Even then, as with the rest of the afternoon, nothing was going to be straightforward. Dundee keeper Jon McCracken got his hand to it. All four corners of Tynecastle took a sharp intake of breath. And, then, when the net rippled, all hell broke loose.

That was never going to be the end of it, though. Hearts weren’t playing well enough to kill things off. And, sure enough, this rollercoaster of an afternoon swerved around another hair-raising turn in the final minute of the regulation 90 when Dundee broke forward on the counter after Hearts had pushed upfield and Frankie Kent, already in the book, tripped substitute Charlie Reilly and gave referee Don Robertson little option but to send him packing for a second bookable offence.

From there, Dundee launched high balls into the area. There was a stramash or two. Goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow was required to punch clear amid a ruck of bodies. But Hearts got there. They got themselves over the line and they now have a couple of weeks to regroup and focus on getting a little more of that early-season dynamism back into their game.

A major bonus is that Devlin managed 76 minutes with no ill-effects. Shankland announced himself in the game after replacing Pierre Landry Kabore early in the second period, too, although he clearly has some sharpening-up to do.

There will be real hopes Craig Halkett suffers no recurrence of the back spasm that ruled him out of the starting line-up before kick-off.

Issues remain, too, with the level of chance creation within the team. Alexandros Kyziridis has had a great season, over the piece, but, in recent times, has seemed a little off the boil.

Hard as he worked here, he toiled to make inroads in an attacking sense again. Quite what to do with him, give him a break or try and let him play his way back into form, is just one of many quandaries manager McInnes has to conjure with in the quieter moments this next fortnight will afford.

McEntee manages to find space and rise to head in the only goal of the game 

It might also take that entire fortnight for the pulse rates of those present yesterday to settle ahead of the trip to relegation certainties Livingston on April 5.

Just watching the punters around you was an integral part of the entertainment. They went through the wringer. 

They gave referee Robertson dog’s abuse, feeling he wasn’t giving them anything and had ignored a 71st-minute penalty shout for a pull in the box on Kent. 

They created the most almighty racket when he finally blew for time up at the end. And they did, it must be said, keep pushing their players forward even when things weren’t working out.

At half-time, it certainly looked like it might not be Hearts’ day. In a tight first half that coughed up little in the way of chances, it was hard not to think the home side might suffer for missing two that came their way.

With 26 minutes on the clock, Claudio Braga moved the ball forward to Jordi Altena — playing in an advanced role on the right of midfield — and was invited to rush onto the return thanks to an audacious backheel from the Dutchman.

Braga surged into the area and had a clear sight of goal, but skewed his effort miles wide of the far post under pressure from Luke Graham.

It’s hard to be too critical of the Portuguese. He worked tirelessly all day, as always, and did so much to fashion the opening for himself.

In reflecting upon Kabore’s squandering of a golden opportunity in time added on at the end of the first half, the difficulty comes in being critical enough.

Claudio Braga celebrates the goal which keeps Hearts on track for the title 

A long ball up the park was misjudged by Ryan Astley and Luke Graham and Braga managed to get in and knock the ball into the onrushing Kabore’s path. True, he didn’t have a massive amount of thinking time, but he was one-on-one with McCracken.

There’s a title at stake here. If it is going to be delivered to Tynecastle against all odds, there is going to have to be ice in the veins and steel in the spine.

Kabore’s attempt to lob the Dundee No 1 was pitiful in the extreme. It went high and wide. Never even threatened the goal. And that’s simply not good enough in these circumstances.

In truth, the Burkina Faso man has never been entirely convincing. Now that Shankland is back in business with time over the international break to work on his fitness, Kabore will probably go back to his previous role of bit-part player at best.

High profile arrivals such as the little-seen Rogers Mato and Islam Chesnokov, brought on as a late sub yesterday, may also have to offer a little more to the mix to get Hearts through this, but the return of others for Livi should offer a boost.

That’s all for another day, though. When April rolls around, the Gorgie side will still be at the top of the pile. The dream lives on. As much as their punters might feel they’re living through some kind of nightmare when the whistle blows and it all goes on the line.