The SPFL Championship is starting to feel a little crowded with all the big names and bigger expectations kicking about.

Hearts are not inclined to give an inch, though, not least to title rivals Rangers. The two clubs have been installed as favourites to contest the championship this season and gain automatic promotion into the top flight. That race will begin on Sunday at Ibrox, when Hearts visit Ibrox in the opening league game of the campaign.

Its significance is not lost on any of the Tynecastle squad. Should they forget, there is always Danny Wilson to remind them. The Hearts defender played 14 times for the Ibrox side before making a £2m move to Liverpool in 2010 and will return to face his old team this weekend for the first time in a competitive fixture. Wilson was in a Liverpool squad that played Rangers in a friendly three years ago.

The 22-year-old acknowledged that stepping out at Ibrox will likely feel "different" but intimated too that his current side are fully committed to chasing down the league title. "Ibrox, the opening day of the season, there will not be a harder game than that," said Wilson. "It's something we can all look forward to - you would rather play in games like that.

"I've been back to Ibrox once since I left and I'm looking forward to going back there again. It will be different going back there and not playing as a home player, but it's just something that happens in football. Players go back to their old clubs, but hopefully I can go back and get the three points."

With Hibernian also harbouring ambitions of making an immediate return to the Premiership - and the likes of Falkirk, Queen of the South and Raith Rovers each in pursuit of a place in the play-offs - the competition will be fierce in the division.

"I don't think you should ever play for second spot, you always try to do as best you can and obviously we feel we can be a contender," Wilson added.

"But it's not going to be easy. There is no-one in there saying 'we're definitely going up' but quietly we want to do well."

The hustle and bustle of match day at Ibrox will also bring back a few good memories for Neil Alexander. Now a goalkeeper at Hearts, he was previously employed at Rangers and got his gloves on trophies before moving on last year.

He will go back as one of the few experienced players at Tynecastle, but just one of a squad which is high in confidence following an unusually settled summer in Gorgie and a 4-0 win against an unfamiliar St Johnstone team pieced together for Steven Anderson's testimonial match.

Alexander will stride contentedly on to the Ibrox pitch on Sunday. "It will be extra special for me as Hearts want to get off to a good start in the Championship. It will be a fantastic test for us," said the former Scotland goalkeeper.

"The result against St Johnstone gave us a massive confidence boost, beating a team in a higher division. It goes to show that Hearts have nothing to fear and when we play like that we are a match for anybody. Hopefully it will be a good game and Hearts can get something from it."

Alexander has admitted that it will be a culture shock returning to Ibrox as a Hearts player. "It will feel very weird being an opposition player; it will be strange going into the away dressing room and I just hope I find it and I know where it is," he added.

"I had six great years with Rangers and it was the best time of my life - on and off the park. It was brilliant to be at a club like Rangers and I loved every minute of it.

"It will be extra special for me but it is a big day for Hearts. I just want Hearts to do themselves justice at Ibrox. We want to lay down a marker and get off to a good start regardless if we were playing Raith Rovers, Livingston or whoever. There is still a lot of work to be done but we are determined to get off to a decent start to the campaign and progress things from there."