Dougie Imrie says that Hearts have a chance of a tilt at the title, as he and his Hamilton teammates prepare to take them on this afternoon.

Many are dismissing the notion that Hearts and Aberdeen can mount a serious challenge to Celtic’s crown over the season, despite their 100% records so far.

Imrie insists though that the teams do have a chance, even though he is determined to derail Hearts’ momentum today.

“You never know with the way they have started,” he said.

“They’ve got a great opportunity to go and challenge. Aberdeen did it last season, going so far before a few injuries curtailed that late on in the season.

“If these teams can keep their squads fit for the majority of the season then I think they could run Celtic close.

“Celtic have quality running through their team though, so they can afford to drop and rest players because they have internationals to come in and replace them.

“It’s going to be difficult for any team trying to challenge them but with the start Hearts have had they have a chance.

“Celtic have dropped points already, so if Hearts can sustain their form then they can make it tough for them.

“Hearts were always going to be good and they have a knack for attracting decent players to the club.

“They should be in the league anyway, so they’re just back where they belong.

“They’ll want to show they deserve to be here and I think they do, along with a few other teams.

“They’re like us last season. We might have lost our first game in the league, but then we went 11 unbeaten. They’re obviously enjoying their football and they’re playing well.

“It’ll be tough for us but it’ll be tough for them as well, coming to play on our artificial surface.

“It’s going to be a good game and we’ll give them the respect they are due, because it’s not easy to win five games like that, but we’ll be going out to win the game.”

After a stuttering start to the campaign, Accies have won their last two league outings against Dundee United and Inverness.

The challenge now now is to maintain that level of consistency as they look to carry on confounding the doubters.

“I think we can sustain it over the full season this time,” he said.

“When Alex Neil left for Norwich we were left in a transitional period.

“He’d looked after a lot of those players from the Under-17s right through to the first team, so a few of them maybe panicked a bit.

“But the gaffer’s stepped up and got his ideas across. I think you could see towards the end of last season and at the start of this season that everyone’s buying into it and we’re playing as a team again.

“We’ve been magnificent in the last two games. If it wasn’t for bad finishing we could have beaten Partick Thistle too.

“The League Cup was disappointing. For the vast majority of the game, we dominated.

“Our form in the league has been magic, after six goals and two clean sheets against two good teams in the last two games.

“It’s going to be tough on Saturday because Hearts are flying at the moment. They’ve gone five wins in a row so they’ll be a good test for us but we hope to be the same for them.”