Steven Naismith says two wins put Hearts in ‘a brilliant place’ ahead of derby

Steven Naismith was delighted to see his side string victories together ahead of next weekend’s Edinburgh derby against Hibernian at Tynecastle.

Three away games in a week saw Hearts book their place in the League Cup semi finals as well as move up to fourth in the Premiership table after a 1-0 win at Ross County.

With a derby next on the Jambos’ agenda, it is a timely return to form, and Naismith says it has been a good challenge that has shown his side’s consistency.

“I said after St Mirren that I was pleased we had the two games, because it would tell me a lot about the squad,” Naismith reasoned.

“I think you can see that the group has a good understanding of how we want to play, which is a good start, and then we have real quality going forward which we’re going to need with the injuries we have.

“The boys have got into a good routine in terms of getting some rest, but also managing to get training in for the guys who needed it.

“For consistency, it’s important. The bigger picture is that we’ve gone through spells where we’ve won then lost, but now we’ve won two back-to-back which is a brilliant place to be going into a derby.”

From Ross County’s point of view, three defeats in the space of six days threatens to undo the confidence built up in what has been a solid start to the season.

Manager Malky Mackay, though, is adamant that heads will not drop too far and that only hard work can get them back on track.

“We’ve had a tough week, and we’ve had three defeats,” he explained. “The first thing you do is recognise that and see that for what it is, and not brush that under the carpet, but at the same time you have to take it in perspective.

“We weren’t good at Pittodrie, but I thought we were excellent on Wednesday night and I think a balanced view is that we were worthy of a point against Hearts.

“At the same time, we’ll come back in next week and get back on to the training field to get back into things again.

“I’ve been here before in my career, and you recognise that there are tough periods.

“There is no magic wand to turn that around, you just have to go out and do the basics correctly, and that slips you back into a vein of form.”