BY ALAN TEMPLE – @CCP_Sport
HEARTS captain Christophe Berra insists the Jambos must use their post-split fixtures as an opportunity to lay down a marker for next season – and is hopeful their fine win over Aberdeen proves to be a sign of things to come.
The capital club have endured an underwhelming campaign overall this term and, as they trail in-form Kilmarnock by six points having played a game more, look destined to finish in sixth spot and miss out on their target of European football by a considerable distance.
Nevertheless, there have been silver linings this term, with their 2-0 triumph over the Dons on Saturday sitting alongside a stunning 4-0 victory against Celtic and a 1-0 win over Hibs in the Scottish Cup among the highlights.
Craig Levein’s men have also gone 14 matches without defeat since returning to the redeveloped Tynecastle in November and set a club record of eight successive clean sheets earlier this year.
Now, Berra has urged the Jambos to find consistency and illustrate their potential as they aim to build momentum ahead of next season.
“We showed what we are capable of against Aberdeen and it is about reaching that level on a consistent basis,” said the 33-year-old.
“We’ll be going into the final five games of the season looking for that and to hopefully put a marker down for next season.
“The management staff already have plans for next season well in place from weeks back and we will be ready to report back for a tough pre-season – and start on the front-foot from the moment the campaign begins this time.”
Berra was speaking after picking up two awards at Hearts’ player of the year ceremony on Sunday evening, landing the gongs for both fans’ and players’ player of the year.
While John Souttar and Jon McLaughlin have also stood out for the Jambos this season, Berra has comfortably been Hearts’ top performer since returning north of the border from Ipswich Town last summer, emerging as the lynchpin in the Premiership’s second most miserly defence behind Celtic.
Levein recently described him as ‘the best defender in the league’, lauding ‘he’s been fantastic this season, and I put a lot of the credit for our ability not to go into a slide down to him and his performances.’
“From a personal point of view, I’ve been happy with how things have gone and winning the awards is nice,” continued Berra.
“But at my age it’s not just about how you do personally, it’s about the team, and there is plenty of room for improvement there.”
Easter Road
Among those improvements he seeks, Berra is determined to ends Hearts’ Easter Road woes – after citing their victory over Hibs at Tynecastle as one of his highlights of the season.
A last-minute Don Cowie strike dumped the Hibees out of the Scottish Cup at the last-16 and ended a nine-game winless streak in Edinburgh derbies for the Jambos.
Nevertheless, Hearts lost 1-0 and 2-0 on their two visits to Leith and have not tasted victory across the city since a Callum Paterson brace secured a 2-1 triumph in April 2014.
That is a record local lad Berra is driven to rectify.
“Getting the monkey off our backs against Hibs at Tynecastle was important,” Berra told Hearts TV.”We shouldn’t be getting beat at Tynecastle and we ensured that didn’t happen.
“The next step is to make sure when we go to Easter Road we can win there too.
“Another moment was beating Celtic. Let’s be honest no-one – even the players – thought we would beat them 4-0. Okay, maybe a 1-0, backs-to-the-wall performance, but to win 4-0 so convincingly was a massive result.”
