Naismith: No complacency at Hearts as they push to secure third place

Steven Naismsith says there will be no signs of complacency from his Hearts squad as they look to make the final push to secure third place.

The Tynecastle club are 11 points ahead of fourth placed Kilmarnock with seven games remaining of the Premiership season.

However, they have only won one of their last five league matches, a 2-0 victory over title chasing Celtic last month, and the manager isn’t taking anything for granted.

They travel to Paisley to take on St Mirren this weekend, with Stephen Robinson’s side needing a result to guarantee their place in the top-half when the split takes place after next week’s fixtures.

But Naismith is only interested in getting his team back to winning ways, following a defeat to Ross County and draw with Kilmarnock on their last two games, and insists his team will be motivated, not only by the chance to cement third place and guarantee European group stage football next season, but also to earn their place in the side for the upcoming Scottish Cup semi-final.

Speaking to the media on Friday he said: “We have a semi-final in a couple of weeks time and we have these games before the split that will go a long way, the game tomorrow is pretty similar to last week in that if we get a good performance and a win then it also hurts the teams directly below us.

“So that is what the focus is, I felt last week there was a lot of good stuff that we done but we just didn’t have that cutting edge. I put that down to a lot of travelling (for international break) and a lot of the boys just making it back on the Friday so I’d hope we’d be fresher in that part of the game and I want to see that tomorrow because a lot of our build play has been good.

“We have a competitive squad and a lot of the boys who are fit never made the squad last week, so that shows the strength in depth and where we are with injuries as well so we are in a good place.

“I don’t think I have to use the semi-final as motivation because we have got competition for places, and for me if we achieve what we want to achieve in the league before the end of the season the full focus will be on how far we can go in the cup and beyond that on how we can improve for next season.

“So there will be no easing off, and it’s not in my nature to let it drop off if I am honest.”