Celtic head coach John Barnes last night urged Alan Stubbs to retain the belief he can still play for England after another starring role at club level against Hearts at Parkhead.

Kirby-born Stubbs intimated recently he had resigned himself to never featuring for his country, but former England international Barnes feels his player is writing himself off prematurely.

After watching Stubbs claim a man-of-the-match prize today, Barnes paid tribute to the defender who was as solid as the attack in front of him were clinical.

A goal apiece for Mark Viduka and Henrik Larsson followed by a second-half brace by Eyal Berkovic made for an emphatic Celtic success to keep Premier League leaders Rangers within range.

Barnes reintroduced Craig Burley yesterday with Paul Lambert suffering with a knee injury which now seems likely to keep him out of Scotland's Euro 2000 plans in Bosnia and Estonia.

Burley has been linked with various possible transfers with the likes of Sheffield Wednesday and Atletico Madrid mentioned as being keen on recruiting him.

But he stressed last night: "I don't intend going anywhere. I've got confidence in myself and I want to stay in the Celtic team.

"Last year was a bit up and down, but I'm quite happy with the way things are going just now, it was just frustrating being out of the team.

"But that was a time when the team were winning 5-0 and 3-0 in their first two games, now I'm part of a side winning 4-0 myself." Hearts manager Jim Jefferies was critical of what he saw as his team's failure to compete over the 90 minutes as he conceded his men made it too easy for Celtic.

He said: "When you're playing against players with better movement and better touch then you have to be more aggressive than we were today.

"Thomas Flogel has collected a knee injury partly because he was hesitant going into a tackle rather than being positive about winning the ball and competing."

Celtic: Gould, Mahe, McNamara, Stubbs, Larsson, Burley, Berkovic (Petta 74), Tebily, Moravcik (Blinker 79), Mjallby, Viduka (Burchill 74). Subs Not Used: Kharine, Healy. Booked: Mahe. Goals: Viduka 17, Larsson 36, Berkovic 70, 72.

Hearts: Rousset, Pressley, Naysmith, Locke (Quitongo 45), Ritchie, McSwegan, Cameron, Jackson, Murray (Adam 45), Flogel (Fulton 87), Severin. Subs Not Used: James, McKenzie. Booked: Flogel, Locke, Pressley, Quitongo.

Referee: Jim McCluskey (Scotland).