By Lisa Gray, PA Sport

John Philliben has urged Hearts to hold on to their top players this summer or risk the same fate as the last team to split the Old Firm in the Scottish top flight.

The defender was part of the Motherwell side which shocked Scottish football by finishing second in the league 11 years ago.

Rangers were crowned champions that year but Motherwell earned the plaudits for taking the runners-up spot, with Celtic limping over the finishing line in fourth place behind Hibernian, who were third.

Hearts have now managed to smash the Old Firm duopoly again after the single-goal win over Aberdeen on Wednesday.

And Philliben hopes the Jambos will not become one-season wonders like the Fir Park team, which finished eighth just 12 months after their second-place end to the campaign.

He said: "Unfortunately, that Motherwell team broke up even though I thought we had another couple of years to run together.

"But (then Motherwell manager) Alex McLeish wanted to bring new players in and we slipped down the table after that.

"If Hearts can keep the quality they already have there, then there is no reason why they can't be up there again next year."

Hearts have now targeted the SPL title next season after losing out to Celtic this year.

But Philliben admits he thought Motherwell's name could have been on the trophy in 1995.

He added: "It was Alex McLeish's first season and, the year before that, we finished third.

"Tommy McLean had built a very good side and he just had to build on that.

"Alex took the reins and told us: 'Just go out and play and enjoy yourselves'.

"It was a great feeling at Motherwell back then. If the other team scored a goal, we knew we would score two.

"Everyone else wanted the bubble to burst but the players were determined.

"For a spell, we actually thought we could go on and win the league."

Philliben believes the Paul Le Guen factor will also have a part to play in the title race next season.

The former Lyon coach arrives at Rangers in the summer and looks set to make mass changes to the squad he will inherit from McLeish.

Philliben said: "It will be interesting to see who Rangers bring in, along with Paul Le Guen, in the summer."

Taken from sportinglife.com