Naismith to crack whip at crisis club

STEVEN NAISMITH last night vowed that Hearts players won’t be allowed to slack off in training as they await the appointment of Craig Levein’s successor. The Tynecastle team are joint bottom of the Premiership alongside St Mirren with Jim Goodwin’s side due in Gorgie this Saturday. Levein’s assistant, Austin MacPhee, is currently taking the team in a caretaker capacity but Naismith believes the older players also have a role to play ahead of the crunch clash at the weekend. He said: ‘There are enough experienced boys in our dressing room who won’t let the standards drop or let anyone think they can do what they want because it’s an uncertain period for the club. That won’t be happening. ‘We will all be working hard this week for the game that’s coming up. ‘Going forward, some of the boys will see it as a new chance to impress whoever comes in. Others will worry about their future. But we have a group of older boys here, who will push the group and let them know exactly what’s expected of them.’ Naismith (right) is now finally fully fit after missing much of the season with a hamstring injury. He revealed his desperation to help Levein in his hour of need backfired as the issue kept flaring up. ‘The manager was a popular character with everybody in the squad but there wasn’t enough done to change results,’ he continued. ‘It was really frustrating being on the sidelines and unable to help. I came back a couple of times and tried to get involved when I wasn’t right and it cost me the first couple of months of the season. ‘That was disappointing but the injury is fine now. I feel good and I am excited to play in games. ‘It’s not been good enough from us this season but I still have high hopes we can push up the league and do something in the second half of the season. ‘But, first of all, we need to pick up as many points as we can from now until Christmas. ‘Too many games have passed us by this season. We’ve not been having an impact in both boxes. We’ve lost too many silly goals and we need to cut that out. ‘And we need to get back to dominating games, especially at Tynecastle, which can be such an intimidating place for visiting teams.’