Defender relishing working with Levein again

Christophe Berra is enjoying the chance to work closely with Craig Levein again, but has warned his team-mates not to let their standards drop.

The former Dundee United boss has made a positive start to life back in the Hearts dugout, with four points from his opening two games since taking over as manager.

Berra played under Levein when he first came through at the Edinburgh club and then with the Scotland national side, and though he is happy with how things are going, he has warned fellow players not to get on the manager’s wrong side.

The club captain said: “The manager has come in and added his little things in training, but as things have been going well – well, we can play better – but he’s been putting his word in here and there, and it’s all been good at the moment.

“Football can change day to day; we did well against Hamilton but we can’t let our levels drop against Partick or we’ll be in trouble.”

He added: “I know him from the past, as do a few others.

“He has a stature about him and all the players respect him, and probably fear him a wee bit. They’ve not seen that side of him yet, but I have so good luck to them when it comes.”

The immediate improvement under Levein has seen expectations ramp up at Tynecastle, with striker Kyle Lafferty targeting a top-two finish.

However Berra has warned against getting carried away.

“If you’re going for the benchmark, over the past few seasons Aberdeen have been the second best in Scotland and when we played them at Murrayfield, we played really well and were unlucky not to win the game,” he said.

“That’s all positive, but we can’t do it for two or three games, we need to be consistent throughout the season and we have to strive for that.”

Christophe Berra has warned his fellow players about Craig Levein.