By Mark Atkinson

Copyright scotsman

Former Hearts defender Christophe Berra believes it is “realistic” to talk of the in-form Jambos mounting a title challenge to Celtic and Rangers in the Premiership this season. Hearts are currently unbeaten and top of the league after six games, leading second-placed Celtic by two points. Rangers have started the campaign poorly and trail the leaders by nine points, only picking up their first win of the season on Sunday at Livingston, and Berra believes the current situation at Ibrox has presented an opportunity for Hearts. The Scotland internationalist, who had two spells at Hearts from 2003 to 2009 and 2017 to 2021, was part of the squad as a youngster in 2005 when the Jambos put up a fight, ending up second in the league and winning the Scottish Cup. And while he knows how the big the challenge it, the current landscape makes the notion more possible in the eyes of the 40-year-old. “I think if you’re looking on paper, of course Rangers are very fragile, let’s put it politely,” said Berra. “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 your initial question, I think on paper, compared to where the two teams are, it’s a realistic option. However, it’s a big one. “There’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. “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 [Derek McInnes] will be very pragmatic and just get on with their business, make sure no-one’s slacking and take every game as it comes.” Berra is aware of the hype surrounding his own club as they go into Saturday evening’s Edinburgh derby against Hibs at Tynecastle. His advice to the Hearts players is to block out the noise despite the sense of anticipation building in Gorgie. “I think social media dictates a lot, so ultimately it’ll be down to the individual,” he said of how players deal with chatter of a title challenge. “If they’re on social media, or like to look at the press and that, but me personally, I didn’t try and look at the press too much. Obviously you do your media and that, you’ll get asked questions, but on a day-to-day basis, I think you just focus on your job. “I think we’ve all been in positions where you get carried away and look too far ahead. There will be people who do that – and there’s nothing wrong with that – but ultimately I think it’s just making sure that the individual is ready to perform in the best shape as possible. If you do that, that gives every chance for the team to perform and take care of every game. “There will be a lot of noise, but it’s how you block it out, not get too fixated on listening to the press or reading articles or going on social media and reading fan-zoned stuff. Let’s be honest, we’re at the start of the season.”