Naismith says Hearts’ impressive run of form due to ‘mentality shift’
Hearts manager Steven Naismith hailed the improvements his players have made to their mentality after watching them beat Motherwell 2-0 to collect an eighth successive win.
Second-half goals from Lawrence Shankland and Kenneth Vargas on Saturday sent the Gorgie side 14 points clear in third place in the Premiership.
Hearts have won 11 of their last 12 games in a fruitful spell stretching back to December and Naismith insists there have been vast improvement on and off the pitch in that period.
He said: “There has definitely been a mentality shift for sure. We go into every game wanting to win. We understand there are times where we need to take risks and there are times like today where we need to be patient.
“You can’t get sucked into a fight or get frustrated. It’s these wee small things that change the mentality and the progression of the team.
“There is definitely a mentality shift in what we expect from each other and also what we expect the outcome to be. Yeah there’s going to be bumps in the road and we will get beat and things like that, but I think we will react to those situations better than we would have a year ago.”
After a nondescript first half, Shankland headed in Alan Forrest’s free-kick in the 67th minute.
Vargas wrapped up the points in injury time with a fine finish from close range.
Despite moving to within 11 points of second-place Celtic, Naismith played down any suggestion of Hearts catching either half of the Old Firm.
He added: “They’re (Celtic and Rangers) still a bit ahead. We will get to April/ May and if we are fortunate enough to be close then you can dream.
“But for us, we just need to keep winning games and the
gap (to fourth place) will be bigger. We know as a squad but it’s week to week. The way we managed the game today, our speed of attack, these are the real markers of progression for me which should ultimately lead to success.”
Naismith watched captain Shankland take his tally for the season to 25 goals.
He added: “He’s the best striker in Scotland so he has got a value to us.
“We are doing it well at the moment so it is a good moment and each week we review it, we look at it and learn from it. Hopefully, come the end of the season we are successful."
Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell insists there are a lot of positives to take from the game despite leaving empty-handed.
Kettlewell said: “We have the best two chances of the first half with Jack Vale and young Lennon Miller going through on goal.
“Lennon takes the shot too early and should probably push it another yard or so towards goal, but I’m not going to be overly critical of him. Sometimes in the development phase of a player that’s the nature of the beast.
“Even in the second half, I thought we started like a house on fire. It’s frustrating also because of one or two of the opportunities we have in the game.
“We did contribute loads to the afternoon but it doesn’t make you feel any better when you have conceded the first goal in the fashion we did.”