By Ben Banks

Copyright scotsman

Christophe Berra believes Hearts have been presented with a realistic path towards a possible title challenge this season. The Jambos head into the first Edinburgh derby of the Premiership season versus Hibs top of the pile, with Celtic fans protesting against their board amid transfer frustrations. Rangers punters meanwhile want head coach Russell Martin gone as they trail Derek McInnes’ men by nine points, and it’s sparked debate over whether a new competitor for the title could be on the scene. Berra believes it’s too early yet to jump to ultimate conclusions. That said, with both sides of the Old Firm divide not at their best, the ex-Hearts and Scotland defender believes it’s an opportune time for his former side to strike. He said: “I think if you’re looking on paper, of course Rangers are very fragile, let’s put it politely. And Celtic, they’re missing a couple of key players, they’ve not hit top form, but I think Celtic previously have started slow and always tend to start slow, so I think they’ve got a lot of experience and a lot of good players. They’re going to click and they’re going to get momentum and win the games when they need to do it. Rangers, on the other hand…at the moment it’s a young squad, an experienced squad, under a lot of pressure. “You can’t see at the moment how they’re going to recover. You’d like to think they’ll recover, but back to the initial question, I think on paper, compared to where the two teams are, it’s a realistic option. However, it’s a big one. It’s a long way to go. Hearts, they’ve had a lot of injury problems in previous years. They need to try and keep people as fit as possible. But there is a possibility, but I think you need to ask this when you’re 30 games in, or five.” While others might be talking about it, Berra knows head coach McInnes will be using all his experience from time at sides like Aberdeen to keep a lid on the growing hype. Berra said: “I think he’s a manager who knows the league very well, very experienced manager. Had a lot of success at Aberdeen. He’s been there, done it to a certain extent. He’ll be in there giving the boys confidence, but making sure they’re getting on with their day-to-day work. “Taking every one game at a time, just tick it off and not get carried away. Behind Brendan Rodgers, he is going to be the most experienced manager in the league – maybe more experienced than Brendan in terms of longevity, how long he’s been doing it. With regards to that, he’s in the job for a reason. Hearts brought him there for that reason. He’ll be using all of his past experience to guide that to the players. “I think it is uncomfortable, because you don’t want to sound too cocky or too confident. He knows what it is. He’s been there for a long time as a player. He’ll just be getting on with it. He’s been batting it away. It’s like, we’re rolling, it’s still September. A long, long way to go. A lot of football to be played. I think when any team’s at the top of the league, especially one of the bigger teams like Hearts or Hibs or Aberdeen, I think you’re going to mention it. “They’ll be enjoying it, but with the manager’s experience, they’ll take it with a pinch of salt. Within Tynecastle, they’ll be just getting on with their business, enjoying it. I think you need to enjoy it when you’re winning. They’re doing it well, scoring goals, and they’ll just get on with their business and take every game as it comes. I think we see Hearts as the third biggest club in Scotland. It’s in a great city, great fanbase, so when things are going well, you need to enjoy it. Hearts have had a lot of tough times recently. But they’re not naive. The manager will be very pragmatic and just get on with their business, make sure no-one’s slacking and take every game as it comes.” Chris Sutton, Kris Boyd and Steven Naismith feature as the hosts of The Warm-Up, William Hill’s weekly YouTube show and podcast. Check out the latest episodes here.