The Jambos sit joint-top of the Premiership table after the first four matchesCraig Halkett(Image: Mark Scates/SNS Group)

Craig Halkett insists Hearts need to block out the noise surrounding them… and Rangers.

With Derek McInnes’ new-look side sitting second in the table only on goal difference four games in, they will head to Ibrox on Saturday with good reason to feel positive.

New investor Tony Bloom made it clear at the outset to the season he wants to bring back the title within 10 years.

That raised expectations among Jambos, especially going into matchday five. And their hopes of a first win in 19 head-to-heads have been propped up by Rangers’ underwhelming start under Russell Martin.

But Halkett is adamant the squad are not getting carried away over a six-point gap already in their favour. The defender, in Gorgie a little over six years, said: “Being a Hearts player, you should be confident of going anywhere and trying to pick up three points.

“When you add in the start we’ve had, the size of the squad, the quality of the squad we’ve got, there is a great confidence within the squad we can win anywhere we go.

“But we can’t look at what’s being said outside or what other teams are thinking about us. We’re all football fans, we watch a lot of football and we know what Tony Bloom has done at his other clubs.

“But for us, we can’t just sit back and expect because he’s done it somewhere else that it’s just going to automatically happen to us.

“I’ve been here a long time and it’s probably the first time we’ve started the season so well. There’s a real buzz, a real confidence. We still need to go and perform and do the best we can every single week.

“We don’t really think about it that much. We just think about what we can do every day, then go to the weekend and try to pick up points.

“Just looking at ourselves, we’ve started the season well. I don’t think, as players, we’re looking too much into how Rangers have started, what their squad is looking like or how many goals they’ve conceded.

Alexandros Kyziridis celebrates his winning goal for Hearts against Livingston(Image: Stuart Wallace/Shutterstock)

“It’s just about us going there as the Hearts team we know we are and trying to believe we can pick up a win.”

Hearts’ record up against Rangers is another factor in the Gorgie side not getting carried away. From those last 18 winless meetings in all competitions, 14 have been defeats.

And the former Rangers trainee is desperate to start putting that right. He said: “It’s disappointing in my time here when you think about how many times I’ve been to Ibrox, or Rangers or Celtic have come here.

“We probably haven’t picked up anywhere near the number of points we should have or could have. It is one where we want to go on Saturday and turn it back in our favour, start showing we can go to these places and compete.

“The buzz around the place is good. It’s a place where we can be confident we can go and give it our best shot.”

McInnes, named Premiership manager of the month for August, made 11 summer signings but will be without record recruit Ageu in Glasgow through injury.

Claudio Braga plus Alexandros Kyziridis have shone, teeing up late drama for a draw with Motherwell and comeback win at Livingston.

But Halkett knows Hearts need to stop giving themselves a mountain to climb.

He added: “It’s good to know you’ve got players in the team who can do that.

“But before that happens, we’d like to not need to rely on these boys to come on and win the game for us.”