What went on inside the Hearts dressing room at half-time with Dundee leading 2-0

Players spoke their minds to produce an inspired comeback

When Steven Naismith entered the Hearts changing room at half-time on Tuesday evening, the scene which greeted him instantly offered hope of a revival from 2-0 down against Dundee. The Tynecastle head coach had a multitude of issues he wanted to address following an insipid first half but several players were already on the case.

No cups were thrown or tantrums taken. What Naismith witnessed as he walked through the door was a collection of players taking responsibility, demanding more from each other, and in some ways doing his job for him. Passion shone through and frank views were exchanged on the need for more incisive forward passing, a higher tempo of play and better concentration.

Naismith changed tactics by introducing midfielder Jorge Grant for defender Alex Cochrane. Hearts flipped from a 3-5-2 formation to 4-2-3-1 for the second half and instantly benefitted from better width and more control of midfield. The 56th-minute introduction of 18-year-old Macaulay Tait allowed them to dictate further, and the 2-0 deficit was eventually eroded to become a 3-2 victory thanks to goals from Calem Nieuwenhof, Dexter Lembikisa and Yutaro Oda.

The half-time dialogue proved pivotal to the final outcome as an inspired second 45 minutes played out. "The players were saying it before I came in. It wasn't good enough. It's easy to say it's not good enough, we can all clearly see that we're 2-0 down at half-time so it's not good enough. It's more about how you solve it," explained Naismith in conversation with the Edinburgh News.

"We change the shape but the players still need to go out, make the right decisions, move the ball quicker at every throw-in and free-kick and everything. I thought the intent was much better from the start of the second half. It's easy, as players, to say the right things.

"If you go out on the pitch and, if you aren't quite on it for that wee second or two, the first half can appear the way it did. Our character is really good, though. We have an understanding of how to get back in a game, and continue to put pressure on the opposition, and then get the win. That is massive."

Watching players acknowledge their deficiencies and decide how to eradicate them is a major part of what Hearts are about under Naismith. There is no room for inflated egos or superiority complexes. The collective is more important than the individual.

"The collective thing is: There is no point in ranting and raving and going mental about it [being 2-0 down]. Everybody knows it's about how we are going to fix it, that we are growing as a group, and how we are going to do it. The will to go and do it is the biggest thing," said Naismith. "We have a group of guys who all understand that we want to win. They are not too precious not to hold their hand up and say, 'that wasn't good enough,' or 'why am I not playing and he is playing?'

"Over time, I think it's been clear. I've started some players who have been brilliant. Then they haven't started the next game because they don't suit the game. I've had players come off at half-time and they have then started the next game. There is now an understanding of how we work. We are all one group, we are all valued and we all want to progress and be successful. Tuesday night showed that, for sure."

Six wins and a draw from the last seven matches sees Hearts sitting eight points clear in third place in the cinch Premiership table. They are also into the Scottish Cup fifth round. "We have progressed because we have brilliant characters," Naismith stressed.

"We've got older players who understand that we want to bring young players through, so they are helping. Their levels of understanding and patience with the younger lads is brilliant. The experienced guys understand that the younger boys have a value, and that they are around the first team because they are good players."

The obvious question is how to emerge at kick-off each week with the level of application shown in the second half against Dundee. It was the second successive home game where Hearts found themselves 2-0 behind. Not a habit that can be indulged going forward. "Yeah, that's the thing. We work a lot on that because I think it is really tough to play at Tynecastle. It's amazing and it's a real asset when it's right, but when it's wrong there are not many tougher places to play," said Naismith.

"It's about understanding that. Tuesday night showed we are understanding that, and we are improving and getting better. But it's: 'How do you start the game?' It might be individually, every player before we go out having that wee second to think: 'Right, what am I going to do to make sure I'm at 100 per cent?' Then you have a full group at 100 per cent starting the game fast.

"I'm not overly concerned about it. We have had games where we have started well. We needed to winter break to freshen up, but getting going again is always tough. I think that has shown in our two performances since the break. However, we are sitting here through in the Scottish Cup and we won our first league game back. That's a good place to be."