Steven Naismith spoke to the press after Heart of Midlothian's 4-1 loss at home to Celtic. A result which leaves the team fourth but the team have now lost more games in the league than they have won.
He discussed where it all went wrong against the league leaders, the crowd making their feelings known at full-time and provided an injury update for Kyosuke Tagawa.
Here's everything Naismith said to the media:
Where did it all go wrong for you today?
We gave up really sloppy goals. That's the biggest thing in any game. That's the last two games where the goals that we have conceded are not at the level we should be at and where we want to be at. How sloppy they were and when we conceded them were mental. It doesn't give you a chance to get into the game when you lose a goal after three minutes. That was the theme throughout the game - all four goals were avoidable. When you are trying to get back into the game and you lose a goal at the wrong time, it kills the game and that's inevitably what happened. There was a bit of everything within the goals we lost. Our intensity when we were closing down wasn't good enough. In the game, there are split-seconds where players need to make decisions and ultimately they are going to decide whether it's a good action or bad action. And every goal today we picked the wrong action, and that gave Celtic good opportunities which we highlighted before the game.
Were the goals down to individual errors?
The first goal shouldn't happen three minutes into the game. We got it to 3-1 and you are hoping we can build a bit of momentum and we conceded again and that just killed the game. That's the bit that is disappointing.
Can you build belief ahead of a tricky run of games?
I think so, If you can't be up for these games that are coming up in the next month then you are at the wrong club, that's for sure. When we didn't have anything to hold on to, we played with a bit of freedom that got us through the pitch and we created chances and scored a good goal. That's the thing that we have to use for the next two or three games coming up. But when you are losing the goals we did it's an uphill task.
Does this show the scale of the task that is facing you?
The contrast from our first half here last season to this season is a massive difference. Ultimately that set the tone for the game. Celtic are a good team, but any team in this league if you give up chances like that you are going to concede goals and that's the frustrating part. There's maybe only one or two goals we have conceded this season that we have not played a part in ourselves. And that's an issue. If you want to be successful you can't continue to do that.
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It must be a positive to see Shankland back on the scoresheet?
Yeah, that’s a positive. I am positive about some of the play that we had in the final third, and the opportunities that we ended up creating when the players played with freedom and never worried about losing possession. That’s the key part in possession for us. There are a few positives but it is a disappointing day.
There were a few boos at full-time, do you understand why fans were upset? Does it spur you on to put things right?
Whenever you drop points at home, there are always boos. That’s a frustration that comes and everyone feels the same. The players are frustrated, we are frustrated and so are the fans. The games that we have coming up are really good games and they are ones that everyone wants to play in.
Were you frustrated to concede so early after naming an attacking line-up?
That’s it. We work all week and we do not expect to concede a goal after three minutes. I felt even after the first goal, we still played. With Kenneth [Vargas] getting in behind, we had opportunities down the sides of them and Alex Lowry picked up some good positions. But then our quality in the final third just wasn’t there today. If you respond quickly then the game goes back to neutral but we didn’t. We gave up another cheap opportunity which results in another goal and it becomes much tougher at that point.
There was no Tagawa on the bench today, is he okay?
He picked up a slight hamstring injury in training the other day. That was why he missed out but it’s hopefully not anything too serious.
What has to change for next week's trip to Ibrox?
We need to defend better, that’s for sure. That’s the biggest thing. We will have a threat in possession and we showed today that when we move the ball and pick the right pass, we can get through the pitch. But if you concede the goals that we have conceded then you’re giving yourself a big task.
Watch Steven Naismith's full post-match Celtic Q&A in the player below:
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