HARTLEY - OLD FIRM DON'T SCARE US

Hearts midfielder Paul Hartley no longer fears the Old Firm and believes the Jambos are the ones who will deserve respect when they meet Rangers at Tynecastle next month.

The Jambos made it three wins on the bounce by beating Dundee United 3-0 at Tannadice and they go back to the top of the Bank of Scotland Premier League, jumping ahead of the Gers, who lost away to Aberdeen.

Hartley admits seeing Hearts' name at the top of the SPL feels unusual, but hopes they can stay there for as long as possible and definitely wants to be in the mix when Rangers visit on September 25.

"We were told at half-time that Rangers had lost, so we knew that if we held on to our advantage we would be back at the top of the league," he said.

"The Old Firm are both there for the taking these days, we don't fear anyone.

"Clubs have regularly taken points off them over the last year or so, especially at home, so when that one comes round we'll go into it with confidence.

"We've had three good results and it's up to us to keep it going, but hearing Hearts' name at the top of the league is nice to hear."

He added: "I have to admit that I didn't expect things to kick on so quickly because when a new manager and new players come in it usually takes them a while to settle in.

"But that has not been a factor for us and everyone is just looking forward to the next game.

"You can feel a buzz around the club and we've had a tremendous backing from the fans this season.

"The Aberdeen game will be a big one and I'm sure it will be a full house, especially as the Old Firm game is on because something will have to give."

Hearts boss George Burley was pleased with his players' performance, although he believes there is still much more to come from them. He added: "We started fantastically well and scored two good goals in the first half. After that we took our foot off the pedal a bit and United came back at us, but I thought we defended very well.

"We didn't play to our best but we showed character and 11 goals in three games is magnificent.

"We'll have to play better next weekend, but the fans gave us great backing and I'm sure they will be out in force against Aberdeen as well.

"The start has gone much better than I expected and we've now set ourselves very high standards."

Terrors boss Gordon Chisholm criticised his team for their poor start, but admitted he could not fault them for effort. He said: "We had a terrible start and the biggest disappointment for me is the fact we gifted them two early goals.

"At this level that always leaves you a mountain to climb and no matter how hard we worked in the second half we were always up against it."

He also apologised to winger David Fernandez for an incident which resulted in the new signing needing three stitches in his chin.

Chisholm lashed out at a water bottle and his shoe flew off, hitting the Spaniard in the face. The United boss said: "I lost my temper a bit and kicked a water bottle, but unfortunately my shoe came off and hit David.

"I apologised to him immediately and there's no problem between us. I was caught up in the game because I thought some of the decisions the ref made were baffling.

"It was a stupid heat-of-the-moment thing."

Fernandez has accepted his apology and was full of smiles afterwards.

"The gaffer's shoe came off and hit me in the face, but I know he didn't mean it," he laughed.

"I needed a few stitches in my chin but I'm OK."

Taken from sportinglife.com