I'M A BERRA PLAYER THANKS TO ANDY 'N' ELVIS

CHRISTOPHE BERRA reckons he is ready to stand on his own two feet after serving his apprenticeship under two of the best in the business.

The Hearts defender has been mentored throughout his fledgling career by Steven Pressley and Andy Webster.

They have both left Tynecastle in acrimonious circumstances recently but Berra's career has grown from strength to strength in their absence.

He has been a virtual ever-present for Valdas Ivanauskas this season and has finally become a first-choice central defender three years after making his debut for Craig Levein.

Berra, 21, will never forget the debt of influence he owes to the Scotland defensive duo who taught him the habits he hopes can help propel him towards full international honours.

However, he has urged caution on his Scotland ambitions for the moment. In the week Ivanauskas touted him for a call-up, he insisted he still has a long way to go before he can hope to catch the eye of Walter Smith.

Berra said: "Training week in and week out with Elvis and Andy was a great experience and I learned a lot from playing alongside them.

"However, I've now come to the stage in my career where I've got to take more self-responsibility and put into practice everything I've learned.

"In training and in games I need to keep working on my weaknesses and keep improving as a player and getting better for the team.

"It was great to hear the manager talk about me and Scotland but, realistically, I'm still a young boy working to establish myself.

"I feel I'm getting better with every game but I need more experience to show I have what it takes to perform at the highest level every week.

"This is my first regular season with the top team and I need to prove myself over a couple of seasons before I can think about Scotland."

Berra proved he has the character to recover from setbacks after returning to the side in the last two games after being hooked 30 minutes into the 2-2 draw at Love Street.

He looked dead on his feet after playing 22 of the club's previous 24 matches but a fortnight on the sidelines has allowed him to return as good as new.

He has helped the club to crucial victories at Dundee United and against Hibs and he is looking to continue the run at Kilmarnock this afternoon as the Jambos target the runners-up spot in the SPL for the second season in a row.

Berra said: "Overall, I've had a good season. I wasn't at my best against St Mirren but I've returned to the team full of energy and I hope I've proved I should play every week, though that's the manager's decision.

"I'm still only 21 and players such as Steven Naismith, Kevin Thomson and Scott Brown have all had dips and hopefully I've reacted to mine in the best way possible, by getting my head down and working hard.

"I want to be part of a Hearts team that's challenging for trophies. Some people reckon our campaign this season hasn't been as good as last but we're still only five points off Aberdeen.

"Hopefully we can challenge for second place and build beyond that to go for the title in seasons to come."

Ivanauskas has also praised the battling qualities of his squad as he reflected on 12 months he still reckons have been the best of his career despite the constant upheavals at the club.

Indeed, the Lithuanian boss even insisted he is not interested in the stability of a long-term contract because he prefers to be kept on his toes. He said: "One of my coaches in Germany once told me he didn't like contracts that ran for longer than a year because they didn't keep you focused.

"I agree - a five-year deal is beautiful and gives stability but I prefer to work with more short-term targets and am happy to go from year to year.

"Actually, I'd be happy to stay my whole life in Scotland - Edinburgh is a beautiful city and this is a beautiful country, a football country."

Ivanauskas was asked if he was better prepared to take the club forward after all he had gone through in 2006, good and bad.

He added: "I'm not the judge. It has been a very difficult year personally but it was also the best 12 months in my experience as a coach.

"I've had to adapt to other mentalities and football styles, your life, Scottish people and my players. It has all been very interesting and I hope this experience can help me in the future.

"It has been an emotional year but a great learning curve with many positives.

"I'll never forget the moment we beat Aberdeen to finish second, and victories against Hibs in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup and the Final itself.

"There have been negative moments too, bad luck against AEK Athens and Sparta Prague, but there have been many more positives than negatives."

He also laughed when asked, if all went well, what would happen at Hearts in 2007.

He said: "I don't think it's possible to have a normal year at Hearts. Generally, in the next 12 months I hope my players are healthy and the club continues to progress. Privately, my heal th is very important.

"Overall, it's not possible to think about targets for the year ahead because I can only think of the next week, never mind 12 months.

"I'm thinking only about the games at Kilmarnock and Dunfermline then our cup tie next weekend at Stranraer.

"However, I do wish everyone a good New Year - and I hope 2007 is even more interesting for everyone."

Taken from the Daily Record