Hearts can ‘overtake’ Celtic and Rangers – Dhanda

Hearts summer signing Yan Dhanda believes the Edinburgh side can “overtake” the Old Firm in the Scottish Premier League.

The 25-year-old England midfielder made his debut for Steven Naismith’s side in their opening 0-0 home draw against last season’s runners-up Rangers on Saturday.

Asked if Hearts, who finished third last season, could challenge Ibrox side and champions Celtic for the title, the summer arrival from Ross County said: “Yeah, definitely. I think we can get past the top two.

“We’ve shown how good we can be, so what’s stopping us? As long as we continue to believe in the talent we have in the dressing room and the unity with the team and the group of players, we can do anything this season.

“I think the most important thing is to keep believing and we showed that on Saturday.”

Manager Naismith was pleased with the point, while Rangers counterpart Philippe Clement felt the draw was “a fair result”.

“I thought it went really well,” Dhanda said of his debut. “The team looked really good and I thought I played a good game as well.

“I was excited for my first game for Hearts and even more so it was live on TV against Rangers.

“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. I’m a little bit upset that we didn’t get the win, but I think we played really well and it showed how good we are.”