Hearts manager Daniel Stendel says he has already seen clear signs of improvement in his team despite four consecutive defeats since he joined the club.

The Tynecastle club are bottom of the league after suffering a home defeat to rivals Hibs on Boxing Day and have only scored once in their last four matches.

Stendel admits that lifting the side clear of relegation and reversing a dismal run of form will be the biggest challenge of his career but he insists he is already seeing signs that the players are responding to his methods.

"I can see we have developed in some ways," he said.

"I can understand everyone in the stadium was disappointed but I think we played, not very well, but so much better than Hibs. But it wasn't good enough to win the game. This was frustrating.

"We have improved so many things in the last four weeks and this is not easy after losing games to say 'trust me, this is the right way'.

"I am not happy about the result and some moments in defence and offence, but 80 per cent was so much better than before I came here.

"We defended high, we pressed, we stopped the game in the second half most of the time in the opposition half.

"We can do better in the right moments defending and when we invested so much and risked so much that we take our chances to score. This for me is the main thing.

"I said before I started we want to have more chances than the other team. And we can do it. We have more chances than the opposition team but at this moment we don't score."

Hearts play Aberdeen on Sunday before the winter break and the turn of the year would allow Stendel to use the transfer market to improve his squad. However, the German was reluctant to talk about making sweeping changes.

"The club had a reason for signing these players," he said. "At that time they think they are good enough, and I expected them to be good enough. This is the chance every player has got from me in the last few weeks.

"Some players get less time to play because this is my decision after my impressions in training. Other players get the chance to show me we have the right players for this club. At the moment the feeling is not so much.

"But we talk about things and we can change and after the Aberdeen game we have a little more time to work with the players and then we can decide if these players are good enough for the club."