Hearts insist there is no dressing-room split at Riccarton

Manager Daniel Stendel is fighting to help Hearts avoid relegation

Hearts have denied any dressing-room split following reports of player discontent at Riccarton.

The Edinburgh club are presenting a united front and are determined not to be derailed in the battle against relegation.

Manager Daniel Stendel's tactics and communication were called into question by a report but Hearts are adamant there is no player revolt against the German.

Whilst some individuals are not happy being left out of the team by Stendel, suggestions that the manager needed to win his squad over have been rejected by captain Steven Naismith ahead of Friday's trip to St Mirren.

Asked about a media report suggesting players cannot understand Stendel and his tactics, Naismith told Hearts TV: "I was surprised to see it. If I'm honest, it's a lot of rubbish.

"In terms of the manager's work, we had a good period during the winter break which was crystal clear for everybody to understand. The manager's English is pretty good. The bottom line is that it's been individual errors in one player, maybe being out of position or made the wrong decision, which has cost us in these games.

"The second half at the weekend shows that we are still fighting. We do want to get back in this and get something from the game. We did that. We have had a lot of problems recently but we're fighting as one group to push forward and get out of this mess.

"We've known over the weeks that that is the only way to get out of this. If anybody in the group - whether it be coach, player, staff - goes their own way, then they will be excluded from the group. It's as simple as that. It's not as if one person is going to make fortunes turn round for us."