Peter Haring talks Steven Naismith’s new Hearts demands and how to ‘hurt’ St Mirren

Hearts star Peter Haring opened up about learning to meet the demands of Steven Naismith and the trip to St Mirren.

Hearts midfielder Peter Haring has admitted the side are still a 'work in progress' as they endeavour to get to grips with the attacking football that head coach Steven Naismith wants the side to play.

The 30-year-old, who joined the Jambos from Austrian side SV Ried in 2018, has started every match when he has been fit so far this season and only missed games due to a spell on the sidelines with an ankle injury. Haring spoke to the Hearts media team about life under Naismith and was candid with the squad's initial struggles to meet the strategy and tempo demanded by the former Premier League star.

Hearts a 'work-in-progress'

Haring said: “Naisy coming in at the end of last season had an impact on the team. He wanted to change things about how we wanted to play and in pre-season, we had the chance to go into that with a bit more detail.

“I think at the start, that worked well but then with the European games, it was a lot of games in a short space of time for us, but overall, I think we are still a work-in-progress and are still trying to nail down how we want to go forward, and I think we will keep improving.

“Most teams want to try and be on the front foot and free-flowing, but at the stage we are at, it doesn’t happen every week that easily. That is where we are at the moment, but we had another good week on the training pitch, working on how we want to go into games, so I am feeling very positive.”

Tricky trip to St Mirren next up for Jambos

Hearts are back in Scottish Premiership action this weekend with a trip to St Mirren on Saturday afternoon. The Buddies have enjoyed a flying start to the campaign with three wins and two draws making them one of two unbeaten sides in the league, alongside Celtic.

Peter Haring has been at the club since 2018 (Image: SNS)

St Mirren sit second in the table, four points above Hearts and come into the meeting on Saturday after a win away at Motherwell last weekend. Naismith himself noted that his team would have to have 'bravery and confidence' when coming into the game.

The manager said: “Bravery and confidence with the ball is the most important thing for us I think. Each game has small details that are different. The game against St Mirren’s will be really different to (Aberdeen) but we need to trust that we’re good players because when we do that, we’re causing problems and controlling the game.”

Haring admitted that the side posed a tricky task for Naismith's men but explained that the Jambos’ thoughts were very much in their own camp.

The star said: “St Mirren have been doing really well so far this year. They were tough to play against last season and I think they have taken another step forward. They are a threat going forward but are also solid defensively, we have done our analysis and know what we are up against.

'We can hurt them' - Hearts determined to hurt high-flying Buddies

“It will be a tough game, but we believe we can hurt them and what we want to do tomorrow is key. It is the same almost every week, we want to focus more on ourselves rather than the opponent.

“You could see with the victory last week; it changes the whole mood of the place. Obviously, you want to win every week, regardless of the opposition but at the minute, it is still very early in the season to be looking at the league table.

“It’s more about getting the performance right and if you do that, I think you will get points anyway, so our focus is on our performance and if we can get our performance right, we have a good chance of winning the game.”