Second place 'definitely there' for Hearts

Former captain Christophe Berra feels Hearts fans can legitimately dream of winning the Premiership but believes second place, and splitting the Old Firm's traditional stranglehold, is realistic as Rangers are "not convincing anyone".

The Tynecastle side are two points clear of champions Celtic at the top of the table, having dropped just two points from the opening six matches.

Berra, who was part of of the squad which won eight of their first 10 matches in the 2005-06 season under George Burley, thinks staying there might be too much to ask in head coach Derek McInnes' debut campaign.

"We're not silly but when things are going well you need to enjoy it," Berra told BBC Sport Scotland.

"Celtic have had a slow start but they've had slow starts in the past and you expect them to pick up.

"Rangers, on the other hand, are very fragile just now. They're not convincing anyone and it's definitely there for Hearts to try to get second place.

"One game at a time. Just make sure you keep on ticking them off, getting three points or not losing games. If you continue to do that, you know you'll give yourself a right good chance."

The more optimistic among the Hearts support are thinking bigger than that, and Berra, a Scottish Cup winner with the Edinburgh team in 2006, has no issue with anyone in maroon and white who dares to believe in a title challenge.

"I think you can dream," added the former centre-half who was capped 41 times for Scotland.

"We're only six games in so there's a long way to go. Maybe come and have this conversation at 30 games in, before the split.

"The manager's not daft, he knows it's a long season. He'll be telling them to calm down, take it with a pinch of salt, enjoy it but let's just take every game as it comes."

Captain Lawrence Shankland scored both goals in the recent win away to Rangers and was on target again in Saturday's 3-0 victory over Falkirk.

The 30-year-old is on seven goals for the season, while summer signings Claudio Braga and Alexandros Kyziridis have six and four respectively.

"There's a very experienced manager who knows the league inside out," said Berra of McInnes.

"For the last few years they've relied on Shankland a lot. He's still contributing but they've also got players around him who're a big threat as well and scoring goals. That adds to the fear factor especially when teams come to Tynecastle."