Up to Berra if he can play vs Rangers

Hearts will leave it up to Christophe Berra to decide whether he is fit to feature in Sunday’s Premiership match against Rangers.

The club captain, who had been ruled out for up to six months following a severe hamstring injury in August, returned to the fold ahead of schedule, coming through 45 minutes of a friendly against Linlithgow Rose last night, and could be back in the squad for the weekend clash at Tynecastle.

The 33-year-old suffered the injury during the capital side’s early season victory over Celtic but, after his first taste of action since August, is now hoping to feature in the head to head against the other major Glasgow side – provided there are no ill-effects from last night’s involvement.

Hearts manager Craig Levein said: “Most of the onus will be on him.

“I don’t know how it feels so he has to be honest with us. At his age and with his experience he will be pretty accurate with his information, I’m sure,” added Levein, who is thrilled by the prospect of welcoming the influential defender back into his side.

“He is a massive player and he has done a fair bit of training and he feels ready to play. When it is someone like him, while we are involved in discussions