Hungry for more - you Berra believe it

WITH the ink barely dry on a new contract which will keep him at Tynecastle until 2008, it could be easy for Hearts star Christophe Berra to think he's made it.

The relative luxury of his long-term deal, after all, has come hard on the heels of a first Scotland Under-21 cap against the might of Italy and an appearance for the Scotland Future side under new international boss Walter Smith.

Highly regarded by the club which has nurtured him through to regular first-team involvement in Gorgie, Berra appears to have the football world at his feet.

Not that he is the sort of person to allow himself to slip into a comfort zone, any thoughts of complacency quickly dispelled by his burning ambition to make it to the top.

"I want to keep progressing and while some players may be happy to remain at a certain level, I'm not like that and want to keep improving," he said.

"It could be easy for some people to slip into a comfort zone after signing for another three years. But I'm not that type of personality. I'm a level-headed sort of bloke who wants to keep pushing to be as good as I possibly can."

Berra first sampled life in the Hearts top team as a substitute against Dundee United at Tannadice in November 2003, the Edinburgh youngster having to wait less than four months to be handed a starting berth when he lined up alongside Andy Webster at the heart of the Jambos rearguard at Rugby Park in a 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock in March last year.

The emergence of Webster as a central defender of real quality following his move from Arbroath and the continued presence of the influential Steven Pressley have been key to his development.

The international duo have formed a formidable partnership at Tynecastle and while he is only too happy to keep learning from them having committed his future to the club, Berra is determined to use that time to turn up the heat in the competition for a first-team jersey.

"We had been discussing the new contract for a while and I was just delighted to get it signed," he said. "I can now settle down and concentrate on my game, try to become a regular in the first team and push Elvis and Andy Webster. It will be difficult but I think I'm capable of doing that.

"The pair of them have formed a great partnership but I'd like to think I'll be pushing them over the next couple of years. They are first picks at the moment, and deservedly so, but it's up to me to put pressure on them."

Berra saw his form for Hearts rewarded with his first Under-21 cap in the UEFA Under-21 Championship qualifying tournament, his display at the back helping the visitors hold out for over an hour in Pavia in March.

The young lions defence - Berra was part of a back three comprising Zander Diamond and Andy Dowie - eventually succumbed to two goals in the last 25 minutes as the Italians maintained their 100 per cent start to the tournament.

As boss Rainer Bonhof puts his men through their paces in Clydebank this week ahead of Friday's clash with Moldova at Firhill and next Tuesday's meeting with Belarus in Minsk, the Scots are focusing on ending a winless sequence stretching back a dozen games to November 2003.

"I started for the Under-21s in Italy recently, which was great, and also came off the bench for the Future Squad in Austria. Being away with the teams and training regularly with good players is a great experience," said Berra, who is hoping to shake off an ankle injury which blighted the last few weeks of his domestic season.

"And while I want to stay involved in the Under-21s, I know I will have to keep my performances up at club level to stay in the frame.

"Hopefully my ankle injury will have improved sufficiently to allow me to play. This time last week I didn't think I'd make it but it has got steadily better. I've had some treatment and did some running during our training camp at Cumbernauld. This is a vital double header coming up. Having started against Italy, I'm obviously hoping to keep my place.

"We have not won for a few matches and we will need good performances in these games to get the results we need."

While graduating from the Tynecastle youth ranks with honours, Berra has had time to witness the emergence on the scene of another top talent in the shape of Lee Wallace.

The 17-year-old has been a revelation at left-back since earning his big break for Hearts in early February - he missed just the one game through injury in the last three months of the SPL campaign.

The teenager's performances have drawn admiring glances from around the country and Berra is confident the maintaining of such standards next season will see international honours soon come the way of his team-mate.

He said: "Lee has done brilliantly since coming into the side and if he can keep his own form going then hopefully it won't be too long before he is included in the Scotland Under-19s and the under-21s.

"His emergence has kept up our good record of producing quality defenders at Tynecastle and things are looking good for the club on that front."

After his return from the Tractor Stadium in Minsk next week, Berra will head off on a well earned summer holiday.

With the first-team's pre-season schedule pencilled in to start in the last week in June, it won't be long before he's back pounding the training beat at the club's Riccarton football academy.

With the club closing in on a successor to John Robertson, by that stage the players will be anxious to impress a new manager.

Comfort zone? Nothing could be further from Berra's mind.

Taken from the Scotsman