Top line summary

  • Hearts have been speaking to Lawrence Shankland for weeks
  • Naismith believes he can keep both Craig Gordon and Zander Clark happy
  • Jorge Grant is back in contention
  • Alan Forrest prime example of being patient with signings

Steven Naismith sat down with the press ahead of Heart of Midlothian's Scottish Cup fourth-round tie against The Spartans on Saturday afternoon at Ainslie Park.

The Hearts head coach spoke about Alan Forrest's contract extension, Lawrence Shankland latest including his illness, the goalkeeper position, what he expects from the cup tie and he provided an injury update.

READ MORE: Steven Naismith on Baningime contract, possible exits and winter break focus

Alan Forrest new deal, a good thing to get done?

He’s somebody who came to the club as the next step in his development. But with that he needs to step up to that level and deal with the demand and become a first-team regular. He has developed and progressed and this season has probably been his most consistent. So he’s earned it. He’s fantastic to be at the club, off it and stuff, so we were keen to do it. It was very quick, he was comfortable with it, and hopefully, he plus a few more will come in the next few weeks.

Is Forrest a good example of signings that need time before you see the best from them? 

That’s exactly it. I think as a club where we sit, you’re not just going and buying any player you want. You need to make sure you’re on the progression of players around the country, Europe, that you think can improve you. Whether you can then try and bid for these players or bring them in when their contracts run down, we have got to be a club that’s on that. He’s a prime example of that. He’s come in and a lot of players will come here and not understand the demand and that feeling and the pressure. That takes time.  On the flip of it, we need and have got and want brilliant characters. I’m big on the characteristics of a player, not just their ability. Al adds to that, as do quite a few others we hope we can get tied down.

If only all contracts were simple...

“Aye, but football is the Wild West!

When you were a player and had contract offers, how much did that impact you?

I think I was alright with it, but I understand. There’s loads of this speculation, he might get this move or that move and then numbers get thrown around. We’ve had nothing as a club, but for Lawrence that can be hard to deal with. Over the last few months he has dealt with it brilliantly, he understands the situation he is in. And for any player, as you get older it probably becomes harder because you have so many more things to think about, your future, your family. Again, for any player who is out of contract, there are potential options that won’t be there if you’re under contract. So there are all these things. But as a club, all we can do is show him how much value we think he has got, how much love we have for him and what he can achieve here. Lawrence will then sit and weigh up everything and decide. There seems to be a ‘What’s happening, what’s happening?’. We have been speaking for weeks. It’s not a major priority because he has 18 months left, so we’re all comfortable with it. What will happen will happen. As a club, we can only enjoy what Shanks is doing and hope he will develop and become a legend and want to sign and stay and achieve more.

READ MORE: What Hearts fans learned from the management team presentation

It is probably the worst thing you can do as a club is hound a player every two days?

Definitely and with him having 18 months left. We've had no offers, no off-the-record chat. It's this natural process, a player has got 18 months left, you start talking about a new deal and we need to show our value. On top of that, our limits are going to be one thing, it's for Shanks to decide. I'm very keen, on both sides, that we will do all we can but also Shanks is a person. He's a guy who has got to make the right choice for him which may be different to anybody else out there. That's all we can do.

We shouldn't read anything into him not being at training?

No, the last two days he has been ill. I'm still hopeful he will make the squad. If he doesn't, he doesn't. We've obviously got three games in a week so I'm hopeful we can get him back involved. Time will tell. He spoke to the medical team, the doctor and like any viral issue the doc is very keen to keep him away from the environment.

Across Europe, cup football has been seen as an opportunity to rotate goalkeepers. Has Craig got a chance to play tomorrow?

He has. He's got a chance of playing because he has been back fit. Whether he does or doesn't, we'll wait and see. Will the dynamic change? Zander and Craigy both want to go to the Euros. They both want to play. I think I can keep them both happy. Whether that's changing the goalie or having chats with them, we will wait and see. But I think I can keep them both happy. I'm not going to sit here and say one is playing this and one is playing that, what we now have is a brilliant dynamic. In every position we desperately crave competition because it keeps everyone at the top level. I think, in the last month, Zander's performances have gone from being a really good goalie to I have got someone to compete with and I need to make sure I am at the top level and he has shown that in an extremely hard situation where it is not just a good goalie coming back, it's a club legend, it's the best guy who has come through the academy, the admiration he has from the fans. Zander has had to deal with that and he’s dealt with it brilliantly. So it’s a competitive environment and we’ll see how that develops, but I’m comfortable with the both of them to be champing at the bit to play.

READ MORE: 'It's been such a journey': Inside Spartans' rise and Hearts cup tie preparations

Would the surface come into your decision around Craig?

No because, with the time of the year, we have trained on it quite a bit. We’ve done most of our prep work on that surface for it, so that will not come into it. It’ll be what I think is best for that game.

How’s Dexter settled in?

Really good. He’s an infectious character. When you speak to him, you can see he’s mature beyond his age and a warm character. He has good ability. The last year he has been progressing, has been really good, international team, played in the Championship for the first six months, probably mainly defending and doing the tough part if it. I hope and expect him to be involved in more attacks and he's someone who is comfortable on the ball, comfortable being in different areas of the pitch to receive the ball and he’s quick, athletic.”

Is he comfortable at right-back and wing-back?

I think he can play both. That was probably in our thinking when looking to recruit. We need someone who can play in both of the systems.

Huge favourites in the tie, is that something you need to guard against? 

We just need to make them aware. Over the years, Hearts experienced it with Brora Rangers, Aberdeen with Darvel, so it is there to see. I think I’m pretty tough in that respect to show that this can’t be expected to turn up. We’ve worked as normal and how we can cause them problems. We have to deal with the pressure of everyone expecting us to win, but what we need to do is ask them to defend and say: 'Can you put up with our relentless attacks?'. If we don’t do that, they can come into the game, get more attacks than we would want and they have their threats. I think they have a few players who could play at a higher level that they have managed to capture and try to get them to progress their clubs. They have threats we have to be aware of.

READ MORE: Hearts and the 'consistent' recruitment approach that could lead to third

3,000 fans right on top of you, it will be a different atmosphere?

It gives it the cup tie feel because it has a couple of small stands, but mainly standing and they are right there. It’s a different environment, but that’s something our players are aware of with footage we’ve watched and some of our younger players have been to a lot of the B Team games, so we definitely know what we are going to do.

What's the injury latest

Boyce is still out, Cammy Devlin is still out, Shanks ill. Everybody else is fit*. Grant's back. As soon as we came back he was full training. He was unfortunate to miss the Livingston game and is in contention.

*(Barrie McKay remains out longer term)

Will any youngsters be involved?

The ones that have been around the group will be there. At no time am I sitting here thinking this is a good opportunity to put someone in. We’ll go with the main squad we are going with. Some of the younger players in it could be involved. Some might play, but none unexpected.