St Mirren victory can spark Hearts revival, insists Berra

Christophe Berra, the Hearts captain, believes Saturday's win at St Mirren proved the team have a unified spirit that can act as a turning point in the club's season.

After a winless run of five games, the 1-0 victory at Love Street was a welcome relief within Tynecastle as it lifted Csaba Laszlo's side up to fourth spot in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League table.

The manner in which the win was achieved pleased Berra most, given the fact the visitors were down to 10 men after 42 minutes after Michael Stewart's red card for an off-the-ball kick at Hugh Murray.

While Hearts sides of recent years may have thrown the towel in, Laszlo's makeshift team dug deep and were rewarded when Icelander Eggert Jonsson - playing at centre-half - popped up with a 79th-minute headed winner.

Berra feels a growing will to win is evident in the squad, with Laszlo's infectious enthusiasm clearly playing a part. In a tight league, the centre-half now senses the chance to get points on the board, given Hearts' next three fixtures are at home to Hamilton tonight, Inverness away and then Falkirk at Tynecastle.

"The St Mirren win was a very good result, especially going down to 10 men, we showed great character, stuck together and Eggert topped off a very good game by scoring his header," said Berra. "Maybe in seasons gone by we might have given up a wee bit, but it shows that the players and the manager have got us going in the right direction.

"We stuck together, that's what you need in those situations, players who can work hard and fight for the team and we had that. The manager has got a lot of passion and the players have passion also. Maybe it has taken some time for some players to find their passion, so hopefully we can keep progressing.

"We have said before about a turning point and it has not been, so we have got to keep our feet on the ground. The last two or three seasons people have wanted us to fail but we have bounced back and showed the right character."

Berra, yesterday named in the 26-man Scotland squad for the glamour friendly with Argentina at Hampden next Wednesday, is refusing to take Hamilton lightly despite the SPL newcomers slipping to the foot of the table after a poor spell of seven games without a victory. "We know it is going to be a difficult game against Hamilton," the 23-year-old added. "We have beaten them already this season although it was a game of two halves.

"We know they will come to Tynecastle and raise their game a wee bit so we will have to deal with that. If you drop your standards in this league by five or 10% then you will be in trouble and we can't afford to do that."

Brian Easton, the Hamilton defender, also received an international call-up and he is hoping to celebrate that feat by denying any Hearts revival and possibly kick-start one for his side.

The 20-year-old was named in Billy Stark's under-21 squad for the first time yesterday. "It's just great when you hear you have been called up by your country," he said. "It shows you are doing something right and I'm going into the game against Hearts feeling good about myself. It's a big game and hopefully we can get the win and make it a brilliant few days for me personally."

Hamilton arrested a slide of six straight league defeats with Saturday's 1-1 draw with Falkirk and Easton is hoping that result is the start of a change in fortunes. He added: "We have been playing good football. We didn't play as well as we can on Saturday but we were a bit more solid and we are making quite a few chances.

Hopefully we can build on that performance and play better against Hearts and get the three points."

Taken from the Herald