Steven Naismith outlines how busy Hearts will be in final days of the transfer window - plus a Rangers retort

The Tynecastle head coach offered his thoughts after his team beat Aberdeen

Steven Naismith outlined Hearts' expectations for the final few days of the transfer window following the 2-0 win over Aberdeen at Tynecastle Park. Goals from Jorge Grant and Lawrence Shankland propelled the Edinburgh club 10 points clear in third place in the Premiership table as January nears an end.

Hearts hope to strengthen their squad by completing a loan deal for the Charlton Athletic midfielder Scott Fraser before Thursday's signing deadline. That would be their second signing this month following Dexter Lembikisa's loan move from Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Naismith does not anticipate much more business but is ready to move quickly if necessary. There have been no offers for top goalscorer Shankland so far this month. "I don’t expect to lose anybody," said the head coach. "In terms of ins, everybody knows Scott Fraser is someone we are trying to bring in. We’ll see how that develops, the change of manager there [at Charlton] is holding things up.

"And then it will be reactive. We have a great squad of players and there are guys who haven’t played as much as they want. If they want to go and we can do it and we can maybe replace them then we might do it. There is nobody desperately wanting to leave. I can understand it if they want more football but we’re not planning on being busy."

Naismith declared himself satisfied with the victory over Aberdeen. "It was a good day, a good win and overall I’m pleased with the performance. In the first half, if you split the game from being a battle to football the battle was one.

"Both teams had their points where they moved the ball a bit and created some chances. But it was really about the fight. Aberdeen came out really aggressively and we were probably second best on that front. Their wide players naturally want to come inside the pitch and that caused us a bit of an issue for them picking up second balls.

"In the second half we tweaked it slightly but we started much better. Once we got the first goal, it changes the dynamic of the game. The pleasing thing for us is we controlled the game after that, our decision-making was good. It could have been more than two eventually."

Naismith also responded to Rangers manager Philippe Clement's comments on Alex Lowry. Clement claimed the midfielder returned to Ibrox after a loan spell at Tynecastle with a back injury that the parent club did not know about.

"Surprising story for myself to get this information now and not before," said Clement. "It’s an important year for him. He made some good steps. It’s a talented player. It was an interesting thing to go to play there. We’re all disappointed for Alex.

"It was the ideal scenario to let him play one year and then to make a good assessment but now that’s going to be difficult and also with the squad we have it’s going to be difficult to give him minutes here. It’s not the ideal situation but it’s now for him to work hard at his rehab and then to come back and push."

Naismith stressed Hearts are not to blame for any supposed breakdown in communication. "I think that’s more to do with internal communication between their departments than anything to do with us," he remarked. "With any loan player, there is nothing that can be done without the parent club having the say-so. The whole way through with Alex, Rangers were in control of it. So it must be a communication issue with them."

Hearts are now 10 points clear of Kilmarnock in third place in the Premiership. "We are in a very good position. Our form recently has been really good," said Naismith. "After a slow start and getting battered in the press, we have continued to just get on with our business.

"Internally, we are comfortable and we are getting our rewards from that. We don’t panic. We didn’t panic against Spartans, we played to the end and got our goal. We were 2-0 down against Dundee and came back. But we have got to see it as any successful player’s mentality is always: ‘I’m doing well, but how can I get to the next bit?’ Whether you’re a young player breaking into the team or Shanks scoring goals, it’s always ‘how can we be better?’. We are building that mentality and that’s what we need to have."

Naismith explained how he stayed focused despite external criticism earlier in the campaign. "I’ve experienced it as a player. I’ve had managers come in that are completely different to the previous one or making lots of changes, and it takes time," he stated.

"We are unfortunately in an era of instant success and if that’s not happening then you’re done, you’re not good enough. That gave me lots of confidence. A lot of our players were improving day-to-day and we could see it. But the hard part is to do it on a Saturday when there are loads of people watching you, and nerves come into it. Once you can start dealing with that and you trust yourself, you improve. At the end of the day I go home and I have got a wife and two kids that are more important than any football game."

Grant assumed penalty duties after Shankland decided to pass after failing to convert his last three from the spot. "I said last week Shanks will decide in the moment. It was a pressure penalty," admitted Naismith. "When you've missed your last three and the delay in taking it [lengthy VAR check], I think Granty was the coolest man on the pitch as you could see from the penalty. It was some finish. It just eased everything, it made us be able to play the way we want to."

Shankland still stole the show by striking Hearts' second goal from 22 yards with the outside of his right boot. "That's Shanks," smiled Naismith. "I say it all the time: He's not just a threat in the box or the six-yard box. He's a threat anywhere in the final third. There's been questions asked, he's missed three penalties, he'll go through periods of not scoring but I know he'll go into every game being a threat.  "It was similar to the one a few weeks ago, it was instinctive. That's the easy part for Shanks, the part that makes him different to a lot of other strikers because he doesn't overthink it. He sees it all happening and understands the backlift he needs and the trajectory of the ball. That's why he's banging goals in for fun."