Andrew Driver has told his Hearts team-mates that they will need maximum points from their next three games to gain a place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League's top six. The Tynecastle side are currently on 37 points with Aberdeen and three behind sixth-placed Falkirk as the charge for a finish amongst the SPL elite intensifies ahead of next month's split.

Stevie Frail's men take on John Hughes' side on Saturday and also have to face CIS Insurance Cup runners-up Dundee United and Kilmarnock as they look to restore respectability to a woeful season.

Interim head coach Frail's target of registering five straight league victories over the festive period dramatically backfired after the side slipped to second bottom after losing four of them. However, Englishman Driver believes they are more than capable of churning out the results this time.

The winger said: "Going into these games we have to look at winning all three. That should be enough to get into the top six, but we cannot look any further forward than those games at the moment.

"Falkirk have got a better goal difference as well but if we win by three goals we go ahead of them. It's a big game, but you have to remember there are two games after it we have to win as well. It's not the decider but if we want to get into the top six, we obviously have to come out on top. It would be a big disappointment if we didn't make it.

"The season has been poor anyway but it would at least bring a few bigger games heading towards the end of the season so we could possibly take on positives for next season. I think it is essential we do make it to be honest."

Driver believes instability in the dugout has been a factor in a campaign plagued by inconsistency. "There are lots of reasons the players aren't performing," he said. "The players have under-performed but on occasions we have had a couple of managers in the dugout."

One positive for the club this week is captain Christophe Berra's call-up to the Scotland squad for next week's friendly against Croatia at Hampden and Driver believes it is merited. He added: "He Christophe is always one of these players that is trying to improve his game. He is hard-working and is getting his rewards now.

"Christophe has got something different about him, he has got pace for a big centre-half which is always good for a team and I think he deserves to be where he is at the moment.

"As a captain, he has had to put up with a lot of things this season but has just go on with it. It's a job I would not fancy myself, captaining a team at the age of 23, but Christophe came in and just got on with it."

Meanwhile, midfielder Eggert Jonsson's reluctance to sign a long-term contract with the Tynecastle club is one of the reasons talks over a new deal are still ongoing. The Icelandic internationalist and his agent, Olafur Gardarsson, began negotiations with Hearts two months ago after a clause was triggered in Jonsson's current deal when he featured against Aberdeen.

The 19-year-old is contracted until summer 2010 and Hearts have made a third offer which would tie him to the club until 2012.

Gardarsson, however, has advised his player against signing a new four-and-a-half year deal and is contemplating travelling to Edinburgh to hold talks with Hearts officials in the hope both parties can reach a compromise.