Steven Naismith spoke to the written press ahead of Heart of Midlothian's Premiership encounter with Rangers on Wednesday night at Tynecastle Park.

Here is everything the Hearts head coach said, including the latest on injuries, Kyosuke Tagawa's growth, trying to unsettle Rangers and what he will do with his manager of the month award.

What's the injury situation?

It’s too soon for [Liam] Boycey and Cammy [Devlin]. Their injuries are better than expected at the time but Wednesday comes too quickly and it's too high risk to involve them. They'll miss out but the others are all in contention. The boys that have been longer term are now at the point where we are comfortable enough to have them in squads. Whether that’s Wednesday or next week over the next month there will definitely be change within the squad because of the number of games, injuries but on top of that who we feel is most valuable for each game. We are in a good place overall.

In terms of Boyce and Devlin, is Aberdeen more likely?

There's a chance. That's part of the reason for not involving them, giving them as much chance as possible. We'll see.

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Could Craig Gordon return to the squad?

All those players are back in contention. There’s been the period that they have been back in training for a good three or four weeks. Barrie McKay and Natty Atkinson have been back in training for 10 days so are now past the point of ‘are they going to be able to survive it?' to being in contention. We now need to think how much game time they’ve had and fitness loss since they were involved before. We’ll deal with that. As injuries happen squad spaces open up but then the bigger picture is who do we need for each game. Saturday there was more of a battle and a horrible game of football that some players are less likely to play. The games coming up will be different again.

Big positive of having a deep squad is that there are players ready to take an opportunity like Tagawa at the weekend?

Yeah, it was a pleasing performance from him. He has had to be patient and he’s had a bit of frustration. But when you’re recruiting players we're trying to have competition, we're trying to have guys who can play in more than one position and have slightly different attributes to each other but can fill the same role. I think we have a good balance overall. As the injuries happen there’s opportunity for others but then there’s more competition when those boys come back and are fit and ready to play.

Have you seen growth in Tagawa in adapting to Scottish football?

Yeah, we’ve done a lot of work with him. He’s receptive, he wants to be better. There’s that first phase when a player first comes to Scotland and it's a whirlwind. In one game or one half of football you're able to pass the ball about then the next you’ve got somebody smashing you and nobody is keeping possession for five minutes. That’s hard to explain to someone, especially someone from the other side of the world. So there’s a period of understanding. Making a mistake, getting smashed, not having a good touch. I agree at the weekend the game opened up and he got good connections with Shanks and others around him and he was a threat. He's adapted well.

Is 11 games too long to go at Hearts without beating Rangers?

Probably competing is the first step. It’s not about ‘we need to get a result’, it’s about competing and being in the game. Especially if you’re taking Rangers, the two games I have played against them at Ibrox, we have competed and came away with a draw in one and should have had more than what we got in the other, which was our own downfall. That time we beat them, I think we beat them in the cup and then in the league 1-0, that comes from being up for it, and willing to take risks when we are going after them or willing to be brave when you have the ball and causing them problems. There are so many bits to it you need to have. You have to believe first. You might win, you might not. But if you can come off the pitch saying we gave everything, we fought them, and it’s been really close, then I’ll take that the now, and then the results will start to follow. We are going into the game with real belief that we can win. We are on a good run. We know this will be a different game. But we have to use being at Tynie to our advantage, unsettle them as much as we can and hopefully take our chances when they come along.

Do you see a belief in the players?

Without a doubt. The semi-final is a good marker to show we didn’t lay much attacking on them at all. So we need to get away from that and we need to have a bit more of what we did at Ibrox, especially the first half because we controlled a lot of it but in possession.  It wasn’t as if we got the goal and just sat in. We kept the ball and moved it around and created more chances.  At home at Tynie it is different. You have the crowd behind you, you have an atmosphere that is intimidating and being on the other side of that as a player is tough to deal with at times. 

READ MORE: Why 4 away wins in first 14 is Hearts feat and Steven Naismith's 'winning mentality'

On top of it being a midweek game against Rangers at Tynecastle, the last four results should result in even more backing from the fans?

You would hope so. I do consistently say that each game is different. We need to give the fans something to get behind and go after and enjoy. That statement is different if we are at home to Livingston. Giving them something isn't just smashing the ball up against Livi or being up on second balls, it’s about having a little more patience, and having an understanding that against Rangers it might be about being more aggressive and making use of more press. It’s having an understanding of how do we get the fans behind us and using that as a tool, because it can be so valuable at times. 

You were part of the team that last went on a run of winning four and then five games. Can you remember that and how does that help build momentum?

Yes, 1-0. We were on a good run. Naturally that happens. That’s why I have said after each win, we have won these games in different ways. If we win against Rangers we are going to need to win it in a different way again. Momentum breeds confidence. In every walk of life it happens like that. But the biggest part is being brave within these moments. We are up against one of the best teams in the league. It is high risk just to just say let’s defend for 90. The club won’t accept it, the fans won’t accept it. You need to go out and be brave and at times defend one v one but also have the coolness in the final third when we get the chance. The times we have beat them in the past, Boycey's winning goal is pure quality and pure control and even my goal in that game comes from having a calmness and taking chances. We are not smashing it from 25 yards over the bar. Those moments are as big as anything as much as momentum and anything else, but what we have done is have four good wins that lets us believe, let’s go and do this, let’s give ourselves a chance. 

Are you walking taller after four wins? You won manager of the month, what does that mean?

Not really if I am being honest because I am not daft. In two weeks’ time I could be getting sacked again. That’s simply it. That's the nature of Scottish football, it’s the nature of where we are at. The biggest pleasing thing is that the day to day work is paying off. That’s how we have seen it. And that continues. That’s what you need to do. Until the break is a big period within the season for every team. It defines where your targets are going to be after the break, what you need to do and if you are in a good position that sets you up. You go into the break saying that hard work was worth it. We have given ourselves a good starting point. Now we have to continue it over the next month. 

What do you do with the physical award?

My kids will play about with it for a wee bit then when they get bored of it it’ll sit in the house. They’re good to look back on. You look at them and think about moments, like me scoring against Motherwell on that run, from that time. There are wee moments you remember in certain times. I'm sure there will be some when I look back on that.

Is there more pride with a manager’s award than a player or young player?

No really. They are all the same. When you look back they’re all the same. As a coach and a manager one of the hardest things you have to deal with is I can’t physically just go and say ‘give me the ball, I’ll do what I can do’ to impact it. You’re putting your trust in and it’s more that mental decision-making about who you’re going to trust on the pitch, who am I going to trust to play in the team. What subs you’re going to make. These are the things that define you as a coach or manager I think.

READ MORE: Naismith's show of faith and bravery on ball - how Hearts overcame Killie threat

On Gordon being in the squad, that's a big decision?

In the short time since I’ve taken charge there have been big decisions and I’ve made them all and I’ve been comfortable with them. I think about these things. When I took the job I fully looked at the squad and looked at certain moments when certain players will be back and understand where we’ll be. Understand that there might be a decision to be made there and what do we need to do recruitment wise in January. It’s not as if one day I go ‘right he’s fit, I’m making a decision’. I think about it a lot and understand there are big decisions to make. I’ll talk internally and be honest with everyone from the players and staff to let everyone know what I’m thinking and how decisions are going. When these decisions are made there’s disappointment, frustration, joy from different people in these moments. But as long as you’re honest and there’s an understanding it’s the best for the group, I’m not going to shy away from these decisions. There are decisions like this every week. It’ll be highlighted it’s Craigy at the moment because he’s just coming back from injury. He’s a legend at the club, he’s got the Euros to go for but that’s not going to cloud any decision I make. I make the decision I think is best for us as a group.

Do you see him pulling off saves in training you saw as a player? Does he look like the Craig Gordon we all saw before the injury?

Yeah. I would say so and I’m comfortable saying that because of that last three week period. You get back and in all honesty this injury has probably been an ‘easy’ one for him to come back compared to his previous longer term ones. One, because of what the injury is but secondly, he’s got the carrot dangling that he was in the national team before he got injured. He’ll want to get back. So that’s the easy part - he’ll be focused. When he gets back on the pitch he’ll have his ups and downs and everyone’s question is ‘will he ever get back because of his age?’ For the last three weeks we’ve watched it in training. The level of goalkeeping here is top, it’s really good. It’s because we have three experienced goalies who are internationalists and who have got a calmness and good ability. Craigy is getting back to exactly where he was before. That for me doesn’t mean he gets back in the team. Zander has had a good period when Craig has come out and done really well. He’s earned some Scotland caps and is in a great spell as well. We’re fortunate we have both of them plus Mikey.

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