Steven Naismith tells Hearts where to improve as injury woes continue to mount for Tynecastle club

Hearts manager Steven Naismith has called upon his players to find more consistency in their performances as the Jambos look to build on Tuesday’s 2-1 Viaplay Cup quarter-final win over Kilmarnock.

Hearts booked their place at Hampden with an important triumph at Rugby Park, but that result came on the back of a disappointing 1-0 Premiership defeat by St Mirren three days earlier. Naismith admitted that the mood around the club had been lifted by progression in the cup but with only two wins on the board so far in the league, the manager knows points are required to assuage some of the fans’ ire that has been directed at the Tynecastle hierarchy in recent weeks.

“Definitely,” Naismith responded when he was asked if some of the players had a spring in their step ahead of Saturday’s trip to Dingwall to face Ross County. “The inconsistency of our start is that you win, it makes the following days easier. If you lose, it makes them harder, without a doubt. But we've got a good group who are receptive to learn. There's nobody who thinks what we are trying to do is wrong, or anything like that. It is a good environment for them, it's just that consistency.”

Naismith believes his players need to be proactive from the very first whistle. “The difference between Tuesday and St Mirren is that we started the game faster, we were on the front foot and there was an urgency to say, we're going to win this game,” continued Naismith. “I think in some of the games we've played, it suits the opposition to have a slow start, because come the end of the game, a draw might suit them more than us, whereas we're going into every game with a demand to win it. We need to make sure that we use every minute of that game to win it.”

Hearts manager Steven Naismith wants his players to find more consistency - starting against Ross County on Saturday.

Hearts travel to the Highlands with further injury concerns, with right-back Nathaniel Atkinson the latest player to be sidelined. The Australian has damaged his ankle and faces months out of action. “At the moment it is not clear whether he will get surgery or not, but he'll be out for a few months at least, regardless of surgery,” confirmed Naismith. “It's another blow.”

Naismith is experienced enough to know that injuries are part of the game – he is still without Craig Gordon, Craig Halkett, Alex Cochrane, Barrie McKay and Yutaro Oda – but admits to being exasperated by having so many key players unavailable. "It's a frustration but it's football, it happens,” said the coach, “but it is a frustration because I don't think we've been able to play the front four consistently, or in two, three games in a row, which inevitably changes the dynamic.

"The connections between players and players who haven't had that many minutes, it takes them time to get to the flow of it. So it has an impact and it is a frustration. It's not as if we've lost two or three and we've had a period when we can do it, it's drip-fed all the way through that we seem to be losing some players. At times, it's unavoidable injuries that are just part and parcel of football.”