Ghanaian midfielder Prince Buaben is desperate to show that Hearts can bridge the gap between the Scottish Championship and the Premiership top six.
Last season Hearts skated to the title in Scotland’s second tier, but came a cropper in both cups when faced with Celtic and will have their top-flight credentials put to the test in today’s opener with St Johnstone.
Sceptics point out that Hearts’ results against the Hoops – 3-0 and then 4-0 defeats – proves that they have a huge gulf to close going into a league campaign.
But with new players at Tynecastle and the same old belief in place from last term, Buaben is confident they can hold their own.
Buaben said: “We played Celtic twice last season but I don’t think there was a lot in it. Celtic are a big club with great players. We have good players too but we will have to try and play better than them.
“Staying in the league is the top priority. It’s our first season back in the Premiership and everyone has their own opinion about what we could do, but we can only focus on ourselves.
“If we go on a run and win the next 10 games, you never know.
“But we just have to do what we did last season, keep winning games and see where we end up.â€
John Sutton has fond memories of his two years with the capital club despite losing out when the club plunged into administration.