Naismith out to keep Hearts ahead of the game

STEVEN Naismith is delighted that proactive Hearts have got themselves “ahead of the game” as they build towards next season.

The Tynecastle club have agreed pre-contracts with Ross County playmaker Yan Dhanda, Motherwell midfielder Blair Spittal and Livingston left-back James Penrice.

In addition, Hearts, who are 11 points clear in third place in the cinch Premiership, announced this week they have secured the services of Kenneth Vargas on a five-year deal after the Costa Rica forward initially joined on loan from Herediano in his homeland.

“I’m not going to talk about individual players, but one of the biggest things I took from when I was a player here was that the turnover of players each season, and when that happened, was so reactive,” said Hearts boss Naismith.

“We can’t be reactive, we want to be ahead of the game. We want to be in a position where we know the areas within the next year to 18 months we might need to strengthen, whether it be for competition for places, because we feel somebody might move on, or somebody’s coming to the end.

“You need to try to be a good year ahead.

“I feel last summer, getting the signings in was a wee bit later than we wanted. In January, we did it well, we got the players in early doors that we wanted.

“It’s never going to be perfect, but we’ll do as much homework and research as we can to get the deals done.

“The two windows I’ve been involved in have taught us the quicker you get players in, the more comfortable they get in their surroundings quicker and they understand what you want”