Naismith on Vargas surprise and Craig Gordon claim: Full Q&A

Understanding the players

Naismith talked about how the group as a whole is constantly learning, especially as they continue to tweak and do things differently to previous squads.

"Being at the club in the last two, three years, you have an understanding of the players. Players that are new to the club you are getting an understanding for them and their capabilities, their traits within games. When players are coming from different clubs their main principles are different to what we want so there is that element of trying to coach that into them.

"You have then got players coming back from injury. From experience myself, to come back from injury you are up and down, up and down and then you hit that consistency.

"You are constantly learning and as a group we are learning because we are trying to do some things that are different to what previous managers and squads have done."

READ MORE: Naismith's presser analysed: Nieuwenhof's Hearts role, McKay blow

How players from abroad are settling in - and no language issues

Hearts currently have four players adapting to a new country, new culture and a new football style. Naismith explained how they have been progressing, the lack of language barrier and how Calem Nieuwenhof has become more assertive on the pitch.

"Yutaro [Oda] was my first case of that when I took over. Just trying to understand him as a person. I think that is a massive part of it. I know from playing, when your surroundings are the most comfortable everything is easier. I've been conscious of that.

"Calem is someone who has especially taken time to settle. Ideally he'd have been here earlier. It was one week of training and straight into competitive stuff which then becomes tougher. He played against St Johnstone, probably not in his favoured deeper position but we felt that was the best place for him. He probably played on the fringes that day whereas I've noticed over the last two weeks he's been much more open with the group but on the pitch he is now demanding the ball, he's now deciding I'm the guy who is going to be in this position, I'm going to do this, which is great.

"Kyosuke [Tagawa] has picked up a niggle which is a bit frustrating because he needs minutes more than anything else to get used to the forward players and what they are needing. Kenneth [Vargas] has surprised me. For someone so young he's very mature, he's got a sharp mind in terms of what he wants, he's driven for sure. He's probably found it the easiest out of the three of them.

"Everybody is different. Some of them come and fit in quickly and they push. I'm conscious  of the other side of the game for these guys.

"Kenneth's English is really good. Before he even came over he'd been doing a lot of English lessons so his understanding is good. Yutaro and Kyosuke's is actually really good as well. The translator is probably from my side to try and make sure I am getting my point across more than anything else.

"If I'm honest, that side has been much easier than I ever expected it to be when I took over. They are all very receptive and open which makes it easier."

Naismith's experience of moving club

The Hearts head coach offered his experiences of moving to Rangers and then Everton, explaining it can take time, even as long as a year to get settled and comfortable.

"In my playing career I've seen it," he said. "The dressing room is totally different to when I started but there are loads of similarities to when I was still there at the end. I've been there and never settled well at clubs. I moved from Kilmarnock to Rangers and in my first year I was orite, got injured. Went to Everton and it took me a year to get settled. I get it takes time. The reason we've signed them is because we've seen, researched, checked their character. He is going to bring this but he is not going to bring it overnight.

"At the level we're at, you are not signing someone for £100 million that you expect to come in [and hit the ground running]. As a group, we can never be reliant on signing a player who has to impact tomorrow. You are just not going to get that right every time. If we can constantly move the squad and there's people contributing all the time it makes that side of it easier. We've done it to an extent but we are right at the start here. We have had one transfer window. We are hoping that as the years come down we're bringing players to the club, we know they are really good, we can give them time to settle in."

Craig Gordon - not rushing back and Scotland carrot

Craig Gordon continues his recovery from the double leg break sustained in the Christmas Eve clash at Dundee United. He has stepped up his comeback and been involved in training. Naismith spoke of the positive influence he has amongst the squad, making sure not to rush him back and the player's role in that, as well as Gordon's Scotland ambition.

“He’s had a few bad injuries and there’s that point when you come back where you check you’re still at that level. That gives you confidence and I’m sure it will for the big man.

“It’s great for me, because it gets him back around the squad. And it will be good for the group, because he’s an experienced guy, who has played at the top level and understands it.

“The one thing we need to be conscious of is, not getting carried away. We can’t get carried away. He’ll be ready when he’s ready. In hindsight, the good thing for him is he’s gone through some tough times, where he has come back and broken down and come back again. He was out for nearly two years. So, he’s realistic on that front.

“Even way back at the start when he first came out onto the training pitch there were wee niggles where he said, ‘right, I’m just going to come off it for a day or two’. He knows himself, so we don’t need to worry about him in that respect. It’s probably just everybody else, to tell them he’ll be back when he’s back."

Naimsith added: “I would say I’ve seen him more driven than he’s ever been. For me, part of that will be that he’s seeing the national team flying and it looks like it’s consistently going to challenge to get to tournament after tournament. What better way to finish your career than trying to get yourself in one of those squads.

“I’m certain that will be in his mind, for sure. I’ve not had that conversation with him but it will be. He’s somebody who has loved Scotland and he’s in the squad at a time where it’s unbelievable, the quality we’ve got. All our prospects are now maturing as we’ve seen.

“For me, as the manager here and having him back, that’s brilliant, because that is a carrot that’s dangling. I don’t need to dangle anything or try to motivate him to get back - it’s there for him."

READ MORE: Behind the scenes of the Hearts 150th anniversary kit launch

Importance of a free week to work on training ground

With no European football this past week having fallen short in the Conference League play-offs, Hearts were able to get plenty of time on the training ground. Naismith explained why the Thursday-Sunday schedule did have an impact and how they hope to improve on that in future seasons.

“As much as you would rather be playing in Europe, for me, I look at the positives of it and we struggled to deal with that game-game-game situation. So, if we were in the group stages, that 100 per cent would have had an impact on our performances in the league.

“From that side of it, it helps us, but it only helps us if we use the time well, and that’s what we’ve done. I think we did that in the international break and then having the three days on the pitch at the start of this week was really good, because you get proper work. You’re not having to be conscious of the impact on the players - fatigue and their mental side.

“You’re maybe only dropping a small percentage, but it has an impact on your reaction to the press or your reaction to your touch or the touch itself, or your finish. It has an impact on it. You need to dial into that to progress, and we’re not at that level yet, it’s as simple as that. I hope we can get to the level where we’re consistently challenging to get into Europe and being there and performing. But, at this moment in time, we’ve got to build towards that. It’s small margins, but it has a big impact."

READ MORE:  Hearts' Steven Naismith provides Yutaro Oda injury update

St Mirren challenge

Hearts will face a St Mirren side sitting second in the Premiership, undefeated in their five league games. In addition they have a formidable home record. Naismith knows the threat that they will pose but wants his side to be aggressive and on the front foot when the opportunity presents itself.

“Short-term, the biggest thing we need to consistently deal with is teams being happy to let us have the ball and for them to go without it and punish us when they win it in the transition moments. We need to deal with that better, and that’s when we’ve got the ball. Do we risk a certain pass? Or, if we’re vulnerable, you need to delay the game. You can’t decide to go into a tackle, and then get beat - kind of like the Motherwell goal here.

“It’s these wee aspects of it. It’ll be tough but in every game we’ve got to be able to be on the front foot and be aggressive at times. But, in every game of football, home or away, there’s moments there where you can’t do it. We’ve got to know when that moment is and when we just need to make us hard to beat.

“The whole thing is a learning curve. I forget sometimes some of the younger players’ ages and where they are in their career. I’m just expecting them to make the right decision, every time. It doesn’t happen, and it’s about us giving them the pictures and the video to tell them when the moment is to do it and not do it."

READ MORE: From Neilson to Naismith: How Hearts have changed under new management

Offiah return

Hearts welcome Odel Offiah back into the fold after the defender's health scare. He returned to parent club Brighton & Hove Albion and saw a specialist.

“He’s involved in the squad so he might be able to get some minutes. But it’s about building that up. But he’s back, all good, and trained all week.

“Until he saw the specialist, which took a wee bit of time, he wasn’t doing much. But he’s looked good this week, so he’ll be back in the mix from this weekend."