Steven Naismith reveals what Hearts must aspire to - and how far away they are

Head coach delivers an honest mid-term assessment of his team

Hearts entered the winter break third in the Premiership with a five-point advantage following a run of eight wins in 12 games since 1 November. A productive few weeks underlines progress and augurs well for the second half of the season. Everybody connected with the club would gladly have accepted this scenario at the start of the campaign.

Head coach Steven Naismith and his staff instilled a defensive solidity and addressed the team's much-chastised away form. Lawrence Shankland's goals in attack underpinned much of the prosperity, yet there remains a need for more creative panache and scoring instinct from others. Management are fully aware of such deficiencies.

So far, though, the mid-term Hearts report card reads satisfactorily. If offered the chance to be in this position at this stage of the campaign, they would most certainly have taken it. "Yes, definitely. I think we've learned a lot in the last five or six months," Naismith told the Edinburgh News.

"We have put a lot of hard work in to give us a foundation and a platform to build. There could be more convincing wins at times, yes. I think we have had some really good performances and we have learned a lot from them. I don't think we are making the same mistakes twice.

"If you take the Aberdeen game and how the second half went up there compared to the second half at Livingston last week, they are polar opposites in my opinion. The opposition put up a fight and at Livi we dealt with it and made the right choices. So we have learned from that mistake [in the 2-1 loss at Pittodrie]."

Winter results often act as a springboard to future successes in the second half of the season for many teams. Naismith placed huge emphasis on Hearts' preparations during a hectic run of fixtures in November and December. The rewards were hard-earned.

"Overall, what we have is a squad that is understanding what we want," he stated. "They are willing and eager to learn and get better. In my experience, these last two or three months are the hard work that goes into the final stages of the season.

"Nobody will talk about them, nobody will mention the results, but come the end of the season if you are successful then it's: 'Oh, brilliant.' This is where you give yourself a right platform to go into the second half of the season and hopefully continue on the good run."

The positivity contrasts the pressure building just a few weeks ago as Hearts struggled for consistency on the field. That does not mean Naismith is satisfied now. Far from it. The team remains in something of an embryonic phase just seven months into his tenure and is quite a distance from where he wants to take it.

"I would say it's a long way away. The aspirations for this club must be that we dominate most games. There are times when you won't be able to do that and you need to understand that and just deal with it. However, we should aim to dominate most games and constantly have a threat. I think the attacking side of our game has suffered during the work we have done to make sure we are solid [further back].

"I think we are seasons away from being a team that has gone to the next level and is then looking to push on again. The difficult part is you are constantly looking at players who move on, then you might recruit. You need to do that bit well so you can go to the next level. If you don't do it well, it becomes harder work. What we have at the moment is a foundation where everybody has an understanding of what it means to play for Hearts and what is expected."

He can, however, spend the break in a slightly more relaxed state due to that encouraging results sequence in the weeks beforehand. "That's what we spoke about throughout December," he said. "Don't underestimate getting those results, don't underestimate that point against Ross County. As much as VAR didn't do its job, don't underestimate how big a point that could be.

"You can get bogged down in the games but we have picked up a real bit of momentum. Hopefully, it makes everybody come back with an enjoyment and a will to push on. You know what the goal is at the end of the season and what the reward is for having a good year. There is a lot of hard work to get there."