Minute of it’

● England or a move abroad will be mo e lucrative, but Naismith will have his heart in Gorgie when his contract is up in the sum er

In Hearts, Steven Naismith has found a club he has fallen for hook, line and sinker. If the Tynecastle club want to keep the on-loan Norwich forward beyond this season, though, they might have to find the sort of financial hook that could sink their budget.

The 32-year-old makes the right noises about wanting to stay on in Gorgie when his current deal with the Carrow Road club expires in the summer. Yet, that contract is reputedly worth in the region of £50,000-a-week. The forward’s fondness for life at Tynecastle, where he has played his football for the past year, might not extend to dropping his wages by more than 90 per cent – which would be necessary for him to fit into the wage structure owner Ann Budge operates at Hearts. Naismith should return to Craig Levein’s squad next week following a knee injury sustained early in the Betfred Cup semifinal defeat by Celtic six weeks ago. It is an injury that coincided with an alarming drop in form for a team then setting the the Premiership pace. The former Kilmarnock, Rangers and Everton forward believes good things remain ahead for Hearts under the stewardship of Levein and Budge. Yet, while he suggests he would embrace being part of that, he concedes that playing abroad might be an itch he could still want to scratch. He will never command £50,000-a-week again, but clubs in the MLS and in England’s lower tiers are likely to offer him much more than Hearts could stump up. Levein’s regard for Naismithensureshewilldoallinhispower to convince him to stay.

“I think there’s a good chance [I’ll stay],” said the Ayrshire born attacker. “I’d be raging if the manager didn’t want me to stay. The relationship is good. We’re honest. For example, I agreed to come in the summer but then didn’t sign the deal for a week. He thinks I can do a lot at Hearts and the club would do what they can to get me to stay on. It’s pleasing to hear that, really good. I’ve loved every minute of it. The routine is perfect for me and it works.

“When you are younger, you think it would be good [to go abroad]. But then things come up and you go on the path you go on. I would be lying if I didn’t say I was intrigued. But it is maybe more sitting and thinking it’s now or never. I’m not saying I have a burning desire. I’m open to anything at this moment in time. I just need to know I’m making the right choice and not look back in ten years’ time, wishing that I had done something or not.

“When you’re in your 30s there’s more to think about. Opportunities aren’t as plentiful – whether that’s a desire to go to England or go abroad. You weigh everything up and that’s what I said to the manager. But there’s a good chance I’ll stay. I’ve loved every minute of it but I’ll take the time and, like every move, I’ve had you’ll get the feeling if it’s right and I’ll see where I end up.”

Naismith offers up a tongue-in-cheek ‘yes’ to whether Hearts’ drop-off in form was all about his sidelining. In reality, he sees the cuffing that they suffered against

STEVEN NAISMITH Celtic at Murrayfield as exacting real psychological damage.

“The cup semi was one of the biggest games in some players’ careers,” he said. “We had new players and Celtic, Hibs and Celtic in a block and it was hard to deal with along with a few people going off the boil. Maybe my injury was just one injury too many from an experienced player who helps control the squad.

“The same players have now dug deep and stopped the bleeding and now the aim is to keep going. For all that we went seven games without a win, we are three points off the top and, if you’d asked any Hearts fan that at the start, they’d have bitten your hand off. We’re in a good place and in the mix and the aim has got to be to stay there.”

Naismith’s injury halted a career renaissance that had allowed him to regain his status as a Scotland first pick. His performance and goal that underpinned the home win over Albania in September proved the building block for a Nations League success that provides a play-off berth in the event of the Scots failing to progress from the standard Euro 2020 qualifying group that has paired Alex Mcleish’s men with Belgium, Russia, Cyprus, Kazakhstan and San Marino. Naismith wants to be at the heart of a campaign he believes can see the country’s current crop of internationals come good at the right time. They did so with a double and a hat-trick from James Forrest propelling Mcleish’s side to wins

“For all we went seven games without a win, we are three points off the top...we’re in a good place andinthemixandtheaimhasgot to be to stay there.”