Naismith talks quick starts, Denholm deal and injuries - Q&A

Here's everything Naismith had to say:

How pleased are you to tie Aidan Denholm down on a new deal?

I’m pleased for him because he’s worked hard for it. His Hearts career has probably been in the category of doing everything the hard way. Even coming in as a kid, he wasn’t a high prospect, ‘we need to sign him up’. He got offered if you like the opportunity and he grasped it with both hands and he moves on and on. I trained with him when I first came as player and as a player I was really demanding, the biggest thing I noticed that he was really receptive and not going to shy away from it. Even when they were young and in the first-team environment, if they made a sloppy mistake I’d tell them and he never once shied away from it and his attitude never changed. He would still be there asking you questions and that told you about his character. In the development team you could see he was a leader, he works harder than anyone here to be better. Anyone who followed the B team will have noticed his size, his strength - it's because he’s got a gym programme that he’s constantly pushing, his nutrition has got better. He deserves it because he has worked hard for it.

Is it rare now that he is a young player who can handle demand and criticism?

There are two kinds, the kind that see it as a negative and the ones that see it as an opportunity. Back then it was highlighted because there is a split, loads of the youngsters are not comfortable with it and they’ll have an excuse for not doing the gym work or not being great on the training pitch. Then there are others like him and that stood out massively to me. That’s the starting point, very similar to my career. I never felt I was the best ever, I never went through an academy being the hottest prospect but I thought, 'I’m going to work harder than anybody' and I think he’s got a similar mindset. On top of that he’s got good quality and has the trust in us.

READ MORE: New deal for Denholm, injury situation and preparing for Ross County - video

It must be encouraging to see him being so vocal when he got into the team?

That is something we spoke about. I said to him, ‘you need to be a leader’. He has an infectious energy but then he can rub that off in others by having a demand in the right way and his character is good for that and it’s always a positive note.

You said the performance against Kilmarnock pleased you more than the result. Do you still think that?

I’m not saying it was our best performance but what was required on that pitch in that environment saw loads of bravery. I saw us sticking to something we worked on and I saw the players execute it well. In the first half I thought we were a good bit ahead in terms of having the ball, the two goals on a difficult surface were of really high quality. Yes Kilmarnock put more pressure on in the second half but for us to stem that and then to still carry a threat was really impressive.

Did the win have an impact on the environment? It must have been a better couple of days after that.

Definitely. The inconsistency of our start is that you win, it makes the following days easier. If you lose, it makes them harder, without a doubt. But we've got a good group who are receptive to learn. There's nobody who thinks what we are trying to do is wrong, or anything like that. It is a good environment for them, it's just that consistency. The difference between Tuesday and St Mirren is that we started the game faster, we were on the front foot and there was an urgency to say, 'we're going to win this game'. I think in some of the games we've played, it suits the opposition to have a slow start, because come the end of the game, a draw might suit them more than us, whereas we're going into every game with a demand to win it. We need to make sure that we use every minute of that game to win it.

Do you feel the quick starts from the end of last season have been lost?

I'm not going to sit here and say, 'it's because of this', it'll be a combination of early on being in Europe and have a bigger demand on more of your squad, and maybe not having the right combination to have early decisions in a game. We work on a gameplan but the game changes after 10 minutes, 20 minutes, the first goal, the second goal, 10 minutes to go. Decisions within those moments are big but we need to just make sure that going into games [we are starting stronger], that is our main focus.

Are the injuries a frustration with six or seven first-team starters out?

It's a frustration but it's football, it happens, but it is a frustration because I don't think we've been able to play the front four consistently, or in two, three games in a row, which inevitably changes the dynamic. The connections between players and players who haven't had that many minutes, it takes them time to get to the flow of it. So it has an impact and it is a frustration. It's not as if we've lost two or three and we've had a period when we can do it, it's drip-fed all the way through that we seem to be losing some players. At times, it's unavoidable injuries that are just part and parcel of football.

READ MORE: The evolution of Cammy Devlin: From midfield dictator to Hearts' all-action man

Did Europe and the condensed fixture list lead to injuries?

That as well, and with that, it then puts a lot more demand on probably players have needed that time to get half-an-hour, get another half-an-hour, and then you are asking them to play 90 minutes, or 60 minutes. But I must say, the ones that have needed time, I think the majority of them are settling in and are comfortable with it and understand, one, their surroundings and, two, Scottish football and how it is different to most leagues around the world.

Do you have an update for Nathaniel Atkinson, and for when the others are back?

At the moment it is not clear whether Atkinson will get surgery or not, but he'll be out for a few months at least, regardless of surgery. It's another blow. I would put them in two categories: Halkett, Gordon, Yutaro - I'm not sure there are any shorter-term than that - and then you've got other ones that are a couple of months. But that's just the ballpark, the big bit is when they get back on the grass and running. That's when the speed can change from that moment.

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