MACLEAN’S GOT MARK OF EXPERIENCE
STEVEN NAISMITH knew age would be no barrier for Steven MacLean after developing an instant rapport with the experienced marksman.
Hearts’ summer capture of MacLean, 35, was met with a lukewarm reception from some fans who felt the veteran’s best days were behind him following a magnificent six-year stint at St Johnstone.
But he has made a mockery of that in the opening weeks of the campaign, notching three times to help Craig Levein’s side reach the last 16 of the Betfred Cup before scoring in the 4-1 Premiership win over Hamilton.
MacLean’s movement and clever link-up play – particularly with the similarly crafty Naismith – has also been outstanding.
And Naismith said: “I thought it was a very shrewd move by the manager from the start.
“Talking about his age, y ou have pl ay e r s performing well into their 30s now so that was never going to be a major issue.
“Watching him from afar, you could always see he had that intelligence.
“He understands what his movement does for him but also for his teammates. It is very easy to link up with someone like that and we are on the same wavelength.
“It’s just another one of those things that, over the next few weeks and months, will hopefully get better and better.”
Naismith has also found the net four times, Uche Ikpeazu has three, while Peter Haring and Michael Smith have both notched twice as Hearts have scored 17 times in just five games.
Naismith added: “Last season we mainly relied on Kyle Lafferty. Of course you have your main striker but you still need that variety of people chipping in.
“We’ve started off in the right way. Knowing we’ve scored those goals and have quality players waiting in the wings, is a good feeling.”