Hearts No.1 situation explained as Steven Naismith reveals his view on Zander Clark v Craig Gordon

Both goalkeepers are pushing to start against Rangers on Saturday

Steven Naismith does not intend picking a clear first-choice goalkeeper for Hearts this season as he looks to keep both Zander Clark and Craig Gordon happy. The Tynecastle head coach has yet to decide who will play against Rangers in the opening William Hill Premiership fixture, and spoke to the Edinburgh News to outline his views on the situation.

Gordon has played more pre-season minutes than Clark, who returned to training later after being on international duty with Scotland at the European Championship. Clark was predominantly the Hearts No.1 last season - playing 42 times for the club - as Gordon recovered from a double leg-break to make seven appearances between January and May.

Ryan Fulton moved to Gorgie from Hamilton Academical in June to add further competition in the goalkeeping ranks. He will remain third in command whilst Clark and Gordon compete for game time. Naismith said he has not yet made up his mind who will start in goal on Saturday.

“I haven't decided yet,” he commented. “We have three really good goalies because Fults has come in and performed extremely well during pre-season. Zander and Craigy are the two who are obviously vying for No.1. There isn't much to split them at all, as we saw last season. I'll make the decision for the weekend.

“That doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going to choose one to play every week and the other one won't play. We've got a lot of games and they are both good goalies. They are both good enough to play. I will make the decision for Saturday but I'm not going to say that one of them will be my No.1.”