IT is the title challenge which dare not speak its name. Hearts might have trimmed their margin on Ladbrokes Premiership leaders Celtic to manageable proportions with their fourth successive league win, against a stubborn Hamilton Accies side, on Saturday but don't tell Robbie Neilson that they are contenders for the club's first Scottish top flight crown since 1960.

Having been swamped by hyperbole when starting their season with five straight league wins only to find themselves swiftly written off when losing to Hamilton, Inverness and Aberdeen then drawing at home to Kilmarnock, lofty aspirations of mixing it at the top with Celtic are frowned upon down Gorgie way. Instead, the mantra doing the rounds is that the next blip is always just round the corner. A top six place would be great, while everyone would be handing out high fives if they could simply challenge Aberdeen for the status of Celtic's closest challengers.

While there is a merit in this kind of softly, softly approach, it doesn't stop the fans from dreaming. Sometimes football teams arrive at a destination ahead of schedule. And while Hearts, under their new governance model of Ann Budge and Craig Levein, have stated they will never put the club at risk to chase glory, if you are not in this game to chase major honours then what is the point? With Celtic and Aberdeen in unconvincing form, and Rangers and Hibs still out of the top flight, just maybe this is the perfect time to push on. However it all pans out, by the end of December, when Hearts will have faced Aberdeen and Celtic again, everyone will be better qualified to venture an opinion.

"We had a wee dip now we’re back on a good run," said goalkeeper Neil Alexander. "No-one is surprised at the club, maybe some are outside. But it’s very early on. We’re not even halfway. We didn’t look too far ahead last season and it’s the same here.

"We’ve got some really good players and a lot of belief in our dressing room especially after last season," he added. "We knew it was going to be tough making the step up but we’ve got a lot of talented individuals. Some days can be better than others but on our day we can be a match for anyone. We’ll see where that belief takes us."

All parts of the Tynecastle side's game were glimpsed during a tousy affair against Martin Canning's side on Saturday. Whilst hard graft off the ball limited Hamilton's threat to set pieces, it was left to the likes of Sam Nicholson and Osman Sow to produce the creative spark. Good work from both men led to the two goals which won the day, both steered in by members of the club's savvy, streetwise central midfield squadron. While a goalkeeper of Michael McGovern's class felt he should have kept out Prince Buaben's low strike, he had no chance as Arnaud Djoum rolled in the second after some unselfish work from Sow.

For all the cosmopolitan qualities of the likes of Igor Rossi and Juanma, this team still has an accent on Scottish talent. National team boss Gordon Strachan was at Tynecastle to cast his eye over the young Scottish players on-show such as Nicolson, Callum Paterson and Jordan McGhee, all three of whom have a berth in Ricky Sbragia's Under-21 squad for the meeting with Ukraine on Friday, but could yet play a part in Scotland's 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

With Alan Hutton presumed to be on the wane, Paterson in particular has an opening at that right back berth, and Alexander, a team-mate of both, sees certain similarities. "He [Paterson] is a fantastic pro and has every attribute to be a top, top player," said Alexander. "He's been outstanding for two seasons. For a right back to have his goals record is incredible but that's not all. He's up and down the park and can play at the highest level. He's still young but has played over 100 games for the club and captained it too.

"That attacking wing-back role is the one Callum loves and that's just like Hutton," he added. "He also has a fantastic spring - he doesn't get beaten in the air very often and that maybe puts him ahead of Hutton. I'd definitely stick Callum in the squad and get him used to the environment and accustomed to how the team plays. I truly believe he'll be a big player for Scotland one day."

It wasn't to be the Accies' day but this group of players continue to play hard for their manager. Further good news resides in the fact that Ali Crawford, arguably the club's most creative influence, should be fit to return after injury against Aberdeen next week.

"We have got a lot of great players here and Ali is certainly one of them," said Ziggy Gordon. "When we don't have him on the pitch we do lose that bit of creativity. Possibly if he was playing it would have been slightly different. But Greg Docherty, who replaced him, worked ever so hard and he can keep his head held high because he did Hamilton proud. Ali was touch and go, he really wanted to play the game, but it was maybe about two days too early. So hopefully he should be back for Aberdeen next weekend."