Steven Naismith hopes Hearts are sharp when Steelmen come to Tynecastle

Steven Naismith has warned Hearts they cannot allow their demoralising midweek trip to Greece to be an excuse for falling short against Motherwell on Sunday.

The Jambos saw their Europa Conference League campaign end at the play-off round stage with a 6-1 aggregate defeat to PAOK.

The second leg was particularly tough for the Edinburgh club as they went down 4-0 in the Toumba Stadium in Thessaloniki.

However, technical director Naismith is adamant Hearts must ensure there is no hangover when Motherwell visit Tynecastle in the last round of cinch Premiership fixtures before the international break.

“It will be a tough game,” he told Hearts TV. “Motherwell are a team who have changed slightly from how they played last season and they’ll cause us problems but if you want to be a big club that’s competing in Europe and playing midweek and weekend games you need to pick yourself up after each game.

“That’s what the players will need to do for Motherwell. After that game we’ve got a bit of a rest but we need to take care of Sunday’s performance first.”

Hearts have no new faces in their squad for the visit of the Steelmen after a quiet end to the transfer window, although young goalkeeper Harry Stone and midfielder Connor Smith left on loan to join Queen of the South and Scunthorpe respectively.