Steven Naismith excited by 'brilliant' Hearts star as 'bonus' performances give him a Tynecastle hunch

Hearts turned in a fine performance to beat Dundee in their penultimate Premiership home game of the season.

Hearts head coach Steven Naismith can’t wait to see what comes next from Barrie McKay after a comfortable victory over Dundee.

The Jambos boss was delighted with the way his team approached the Premiership game in a 3-0 success. Kenneth Vargas scored in the first half before Alan Forrest and Lawrence Shankland finished off scoring to move the team onto 66 points for the campaign.

Barrie McKay was a star turn in the match, contributing two-eye catching assists for the first two goals. It was his second start of the calendar year in a season marred by knee problems, but Naismith has been left delighted with the contributions of the attack-minded star.

While aware he isn’t at peak fitness yet, the Hearts head coach knows he will be a big player come next season, in a campaign that will involve European football into the winter months. He said: “He’s a brilliant asset to have.

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“Baz isn’t fit, you can see that, he’s been a long time out. He’s got unbelievable quality and he’s good at managing himself within that game and lasting 80 minutes.

“He started against Livingston and came up with some big moments. Today his quality’s good again. What we get out of him this season is a bonus. He’ll be really important next season.

“It’s always tough for players coming, when you miss a big chunk of the season everybody is at their peak and you’re trying to cling on to get there, I've been there myself. We’ll not see him at his prime and best condition until after preseason I think but he’s still contributing so that shows you the quality he’s got.”

In the boiling sunshine in Gorgie, Naismith was pleased with how his side went about their business collectively. He explained: “It was a good afternoon’s work. We were good in the first half without having that freedom and moving the ball quickly.

“That was the message at half time, if we moved it quicker we would be quicker in attack and cause more problems. We did that second half. The second goal typical. Did well in possession, their defence gets a bit opened up and then Alan makes a brilliant run. Overall, it was a good afternoon’s work.”

Another star who impressed was James Wilson. The youngster is highly-rated by Naismith and the coaching staff, with more physical stature added to his game since appearing against Spartans in the Scottish Cup in January.

Naismith said: “Young players will get opportunities here but they are not just going to get given opportunities for the sake of it. James has had to be patient, he’s been frustrated at times that he’s not had a chance and not been able to get in but I’ve lived it as a young player and I understand it.

“If he goes in too early his confidence can take a drop which then takes four months to get back to where he was. We need him to have a steady rise and going forward he will be a big player like Macaulay and Denholm this season.”

Victory here means Hearts now have their highest points tally since 2006. 70 is the goal for Naismith, and he believe his stars are more than capable of that. He added: “Really good, that is a good measure of us. Yes we’ve had a good season but if you focus on us and how we go about winning games it’s a good marker, but I want to get to 70.

“It’s a realistic goal, it’s something we can do. It shows the drive the squad’s got that we put on the performance we did today to get the three points.”