By Barry Anderson

Copyright scotsman

The sight of Ibrox stunned as a small pocket of Hearts fans erupt is still vivid in Craig Halkett’s mind. His late equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Rangers four years ago was a memorable career moment, but one that is all too rare during his six-year spell at the Edinburgh club. It is an issue the defender regrets and something he is eager to address. Halkett openly admits that Hearts have not taken enough points against Rangers or Celtic during his time in maroon. On Saturday, they visit the former sitting joint-top of the Premiership table beside the latter. That day in 2021, Hearts were one point behind Rangers at the top and managed to maintain that margin thanks to Halkett’s late back-post header after Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor fumbled a corner-kick. It is rare for Hearts to travel west in such a lofty league position and mounting a challenge. “I think it might actually have been the last time that I scored at Ibrox. It was when I got the last-minute equaliser,” recalled Halkett. “I think that season was the season we came up under Robbie [Neilson]. We were up near the top end of the table. “We might not have been top, but I remember we were unbeaten and that kept the unbeaten run going. Again, we’re obviously not looking at league positions or where we are. It’s just about another game. It’s a tough away fixture to go and pick up three points.” Three wins and a draw from their opening four league fixtures gives Hearts the right to feel confident under head coach Derek McInnes. Rangers away is likely to be their toughest test to date. However, the Glasgow side are in turmoil after failing to win any of their league fixtures so far and suffering a humiliating Champions League exit against Club Brugge. “I think just looking at ourselves, we’ve started the season really well. There’s a confidence within the group that we can go anywhere and pick up a result,” said Halkett. “I don’t think as players we’re looking too much into how Rangers have started or what their squad is looking like or how many goals they’ve conceded. It’s just about us going there as the Hearts team that we know we are and trying to believe that we can go and get a win. “Obviously, being a Hearts player, you should be confident of going anywhere and trying to pick up three points. When you add into the start that we’ve had, the size of the squad, the quality of the squad that we’ve got, there is a great confidence within that we can go and win anywhere. We can’t look at what’s being said outside or what other teams are thinking about us. It’s just about what we do inside. We just go every weekend trying to win the game and see where that takes us.” There has been plenty noise regarding Rangers’ meek start as fans call for new manager Russell Martin to be removed just weeks into his tenure. In Gorgie, feelings are notably more upbeat as Hearts started the campaign strongly having welcomed £9.86m of investment from British entrepreneur Tony Bloom. Players are determined not to become too distracted either way. “You’ve got to put it to the side and just do our job,” said Halkett. “Obviously, it’s hard as footballers. We’re all football fans, we watch a lot of football and we know what he [Bloom] has done at his other clubs. But for us, we can’t just sit back and expect that because he’s done it somewhere else that it’s just going to automatically happen to us. We still need to go and perform and do the best we can every single week. We don’t really think about it that much. We just think about what we can do every day and then go to the weekend and try to pick up points. “I’ve been here a long time and it’s probably the first time we’ve started the season so well. There’s a real buzz about the place, there’s a real confidence. I’ve been here a long enough to see the other side when we’ve not started so well. You obviously just need to go back to last season and the start we had. It’s a good feeling but again, it’s one that you can’t really get too carried away with.” Halkett is hopeful that the feelgood factor can inspire Hearts to fare better against Celtic and Rangers. “I think it’s disappointing in my time here when you think about how many times I’ve been to Ibrox or Rangers or Celtic have come here. We probably haven’t picked up anywhere near the amount of points that we should have or could have,” he admitted. “It is one that we want to go on Saturday and turn it back in our favour – start showing that we can go to these places and compete. The buzz about the squad is good. Ibrox is a place that we can be confident we can go and give it our best shot to try and pick up three points.” READ MORE: Hearts transfer interest in Galymzhan Kenzhebek