Steven Naismith on Fraser's Hearts role and striker depth

The Hearts head coach spoke about the transfer window, Lawrence Shankland, Scott Fraser and the injury situation.

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A successful window all told?

Yeah. It was a window as expected. We knew we had to get a right-sided defender, that was a priority hence why we did it so early. Then the rest of the window we were in a comfortable position with the squad it was more about if someone could come and help us be better then we would move and that was the position with Scott.

How do you feel about the composition of the squad, the balance in terms of positions and age?

It’s improving. We can always be better. Scott coming in gives us more experience going forward. I felt in the first half of the season that inexperience has maybe been something that if we had more experience could have made our life easier at times. But overall it’s really good. The thing that’s not helped the forward positions is Boyce and McKay being injured so much.  But it’s coming together. The group of younger players are coming on and will have an impact.

With the Shankland speculation and more so Liam Boyce injury were you tempted to get another forward?

Not overly. The dynamics of the squad, I have said before that I’m not a fan of working with too big a squad, you are then just causing yourself more problems. Kyosuke has probably not done enough in games but he has probably not had enough time on the pitch that he and I would ideally want. But when you have Shanks in the form he has been in then it’s difficult. I’m still hoping Kyosuke can bring more in the second half of the season. Then we also have James [Wilson] who is very young, but who is ahead of the game in terms of his age and level. Effectively you stop opportunities for him if we bring in another. So I wasn’t overly looking. But if there was something there that would massively improve us then I didn’t feel the need to.

There was an offer for Toby Sibbick offer, were there any others?

Nothing at all. The Toby one comes from it being a window and people being desperate and needing a deal to be done. By that point, the window is gone for us and we can’t react. I said if there are players that don’t want to be here and there’s an opportunity to leave maybe two weeks ago then maybe you can do something to cover. But going into the last day there’s no chance of that. Toby was comfortable with that as well.

With regards to Shankland were you anxious about losing over the last few weeks and days?

Not at all. I was comfortable because I knew what it would take. If someone was willing to pay that money then the decision is the decision. It’s a hard decision but it’s one you need to take for the bigger picture, the club. But if nobody was going to get to that point then we were always going to keep him. I’ve said we have 18 months of Lawrence being here minimum if that’s what we want. The summer will be another issue. If clubs are wanting your players they are going to come and bid. That’s for us to decide. Like any of our players, we think are assets, we will try and prolong their career and time at the club. We have offered Lawrence a new contract and at this time we’ve offered as good as we can. Then there’s a time limit on it more to stop the questions being asked. We want him to be here for as long as he can be. We are doing all we can at the moment, if that’s not right for Lawrence, and who’s to say in the summer it is or isn’t, we will wait and see if anything comes of that. At the moment we have stopped everything. We will focus on being successful in the second half of the season. And hopefully, finish with a good cup run and European football at the end of the season.

Will you revisit Shankland talks?

We'll talk about the football, there will come a point where I'm sure we'll have another conversation about a contract extension but it is what it is, he'll sign or he'll not. What I'm not going to accept is consistently getting asked about one player who is here for 18 months minimum if we want him here. So, it's not a big issue, it's basically a deadline and we just move on now, football moves quickly, we'll now focus on the football."

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How do you see Scott Fraser fitting into the team positionally?

I think he can fit in a number of positions. He can play as a ten, play off one of the sides, play as a six, if you're in a midfield three he can cover the eight positions. I think we're very flexible and the way we play you need that flexibility and he definitely brings that. From the few days we've worked with him we can see his brain is ahead of the game, he sees the game at a much quicker pace than a lot which is a massive asset. He hasn't trained consistently for a while now but his all-round fitness is good so I'm really happy with getting him in. He seems really enthusiastic and wants to be part of it.

Will he be involved tomorrow?

Yeah, he'll be in the squad tomorrow, whether that's from the start we will wait and see.

Is his vision going to help break down teams?

A hundred percent, the hardest part of the game is the final third when teams are deep and you've got to understand where the ball will be in two passes not 'I'm going to receive it, what am I going to do with it?'. He comes into that category, he's got the intelligence not only when he gets the ball and his vision and seeing runs and passes to make but his positional play, how that can impact the defenders. He picks up good positions that aren't involved in the immediate game but for one and two passes.

READ MORE: The transfer window Hearts wanted: Shankland staying to priority signing

What do you expect from Dundee?

Both games we've played have been tight. The first game was decided on a mistake from us. They are a young team but they are a well-coached team and they've got real enthusiasm and talent in their team. You can easily see that. They caused us problems in the first half of the recent game but our response was good, more attitude than anything else, we changed some things that we had done but it wasn't really about that it was more the intensity we did stuff with and putting them under more pressure. I'd expect us to be more aggressive that way tomorrow but we need to be guarded because they have their strengths as well."

What's the injury latest?

No real changes. Baz is nowhere near, Cammy is back training with the group but is maybe a week or two away from being back in the squad. Boycie has had a setback and needs a wee bit of surgery. What has been a hamstring injury, the route of it is more a tendon issue and we've seen a specialist who thinks it's better to get surgery done now. That sounds worse but hopefully, in six to eight weeks he'll be back. Pete is still out with his knee with his injury from Livingston. Barry is out of his brace and has moved to the next stage, a bit of strengthening in the gym and a bit of jogging and progressing from there - that's positive but you're not going to see him anytime soon. 

No contact on Shankland?

None at all, no phone calls of interest, and no bids.