Liam Fox is clear on what he wants for Saturday’s SPFL Premiership trip to Ross County

Training sessions at Riccarton this week have been high-tempo, full of energy and effervescence. Hearts are fighting for Scottish Premiership survival having sacked their manager and appointed an interim for the second time this season. There is no hiding place or room to slacken. Players need to deliver, coaches need to inspire, and points need earned. Preparations for Dingwall have been intense and demanding at the club’s training base.

The interim head coach, Liam Fox, took charge of the team following Steven Naismith’s sacking last September. After overseeing a win in Europe, plus a draw and a defeat in the league back then, he took the reins again last weekend when Neil Critchley was dismissed. Fox knows what he wants, assisted by former Hearts defender Lee Wallace, and as a Jambo since childhood he fully understands what supporters demand from their team.

Speaking exclusively to the Edinburgh News, the 41-year-old local lad is determined to put out a side to attack Ross County on Saturday. The Highlanders sit just five points behind Hearts in the Premiership’s relegation play-off spot with four games remaining. Ultimately, Fox just wants three points by whichever way is necessary. If Hearts sneak a 96th-minute winner with a ricochet off a substitute’s backside, don’t expect him to complain. That said, his mindset is to attack and entertain where possible. The message to players this week has been clear.

“My hope is that my messaging to the players has been clean, simple, and clear about what's at stake - the time of the season that we're at and also the situation that we're in,” he says. “I can sit here and say this, that and the other and I can make excuses. It's no time for excuses, it's now time for a team to be hopefully more like what a Hearts team should be like. They should be on the front foot, they should be aggressive and they should be doing absolutely everything they possibly can to win the game.”

A lack of width and pace was criticised in recent months as Hearts supporters’ despair grew. Fox is asked how he plans to address that. “How we set the team up will hopefully be a reflection of how I see the game,” he replies. “I'm not going to sit here and tell you what it's going to be, but I'm hoping that they'll see some differences. I'm hoping that we'll be clearer in our thinking and I'm going to try and simplify things as much as I can for them.

“When players are in moments when they're a bit unsure of managers, like with the situation we're in, the points and how close we are to being dragged into something that we don't want to be dragged into, it's about making sure that I simplify and make things nice and clear for them so that ultimately everybody's held accountable.”

Strikers, diamonds and trying to fit in Shankland, Kabangu and Wilson

One of the biggest challenges is how to accommodate three strikers in the Hearts starting 11. Critchley’s approach was to play Lawrence Shankland at the apex of a diamond-shaped midfield, with James Wilson and Elton Kabangu in attack. Fox won’t do that. “That will be the decision-making that I go through this week and ultimately it goes back to the team comes before the individual, so I'll pick the best team that I think can win us the game,” he says.

“That might mean that some people don't play or they're on the bench. That's football, that's the same the world over. I'm clear on how I think it should function and what I should do. Again, that's sticking to what I believe in. Like I say, we're asking the players to get on board with that because if they don't get on board with that, they don't play.”

Wallace’s role in this temporary management team should not be underplayed. A graduate of the Riccarton youth academy, he spent seven years as Hearts’ regular left-back before a £1.5m transfer to Rangers. He went on to become captain at Ibrox and is now forging a career in coaching at the age of 37. His understanding of Hearts, but more crucially Fox, is pivotal to the whole arrangement.

“He is hugely important,” explains Fox. “First and foremost, he's a brilliant human being. Secondly, he is really important to me because he challenges me every single day and every single minute and he's got a brilliant mind with the players. I think he's going to have a really top, high-level career doing whatever he wants to do in coaching and management.

“He understands how my brain works and that's really important to me and how I think. We see a lot of things very similar, but we also see things differently, which is good because you need people to challenge you and he's not afraid to say to me, 'hold on, explain that to me,' or 'why are we doing that?' That, for me, is somebody who makes you better every day.

“He'll always say to me: 'Why are we doing that? We always talk about the how and the why. How are we going to do it and why are we doing it? Either one can come first. It's about us making it clear to the players. Our job at this moment in time is to give the players as much clarity and as much structure as we can in a week because you can't do everything in a week. Also, in the background, the intensity, the willingness to compete, their willingness to outrun people and outwork people. That's always going on in the background.”

Scottish Premiership high stakes in the relegation battle to avoid the SPFL Championship

The stakes are high for both County and Hearts this weekend. Even more so than last autumn, Fox has been placed in a pressurised situation given there are only four games left. He is ready for a fight in Dingwall and wants to ensure the Tynecastle players are, too. “It will come down to a number of things. It will come down to desire, work, creativity - but I think that's every game you play,” he admits.

“We have to outwork them, we have to outrun them, we have to do all these types of things. But that's not just specifically for this game. That's how I see it all the time. You have to earn the right to win the points and then hopefully we have players in the right position and we have moments of quality, which there's no doubt there is quality in the group. It's up to us to try and set that up and get it over the line.”

One player who will hope the change of manager can bring better fortune is midfielder Yan Dhanda. He headed the winning goal as a substitute in that European match under Fox as Hearts beat Dinamo Minsk 2-1 in Azerbaijan. He also returns to his former club on Saturday and could have a role to play after falling out of favour under Critchley.

“What I said to the players really early on in the week was that, rightly or wrongly, the slate's clean now,” says Fox. “So you've got a week's training. Catch my eye. I say it to them all the time: 'Don't make it easy for me to leave you out. Don't cut corners. Don't take the easy options.' It's a big group, so I'm going to have some tough decisions to make in regards to even just the travelling party for Dingwall. So make sure the basics are done properly and make sure you're willing to work every single day to your absolute maximum.”