Christophe Berra insists guiding Hearts through some turbulent times this season can only be good for his career in the future.The 23-year-old was made captain at the start of the campaign, making him the youngest skipper in the Scottish Premier League, following the departure of goalkeeper Craig Gordon to Sunderland.

Some doubted whether the youngster could handle the pressure of the position during a difficult spell for the club.

But after being called up to George Burley's first Scotland squad this week, Berra insists he is relishing the responsibility.

He said: "In the long term, the captaincy is going to help me improve as a player and as a person on and off the pitch.

"We've been through a lot of hard times at Hearts but a lot of players have come through it with their heads held high and having showed good character.

"If the time did come that I moved somewhere else it would stand me in good stead for the future.

"I can only learn from this experience and use it in the years ahead in my football career.

"I'm improving as a player and obviously I must be doing something right to get in the Scotland squad."

Hearts face a massive match at home to Falkirk this weekend knowing defeat would all but end their chances of earning a top-six finish this season.

The Bairns currently sit three points ahead of Hearts in sixth place with three games remaining before the split.

But Berra believes he and his team-mates have turned their fortunes around in recent weeks following a dreadful festive period.

He added: "It's been a very up-and-down, disappointing season. We've had some good results and some bad results.

"We went through a very bad period for a month or so but I think you've seen in the last five or six weeks we've recovered from that.

"I think it's eight games now where we've only been beaten by the Old Firm, and I think you can see that with Stevie Frail in charge things have improved.

"We're working harder as a team and better as a team. Stevie has demanded more from the players and most of the players have stepped up to the mark, and that has shown in our results."

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