Steven Naismith's message to Hearts stars to avoid coasting

Hearts head to Paisley aiming to get back to winning ways after the loss at Ross County and draw with Kilmarnock either side of the break.

Naismith spoke to the press ahead of the trip west as he discussed the challenge St Mirren will pose.

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What's the injury latest?

He's still not ready so we're not going to risk it. He's trained a lot this week but asking him to sprint and get to that last point his body is telling him not to. He's just not made it and we will see how it goes. Beni has been ill so we will wait and see how he is. That's probably the only other one, the rest are where it has been. We've had a couple out of the squad that weren't selected because of the amount of bodies we have so it kind of shows you where we are at with injuries at the moment.

Will it be a case of cotton wool to be ready for the big games coming up?

It's more that you don't want it to drag on and before you know it he's missed 10 weeks and he's not fit enough to contribute in the last few games. For me,  It is one of the most frustrating injuries you can have, a hamstring or a calf injury because you feel good, everything is good but it takes that one moment of tiredness or fatigue to set you back weeks. From my experiences, I am very conscious of that with the players. Calem is doing all he can but we would rather give him another week. 

What are you expecting from St Mirren?

They won't be much different to what they have been. There are similarities to the game last week against Kilmarnock and St Mirren. Different formations but both teams get it wide, put crosses in the box, commit to it and get bodies in the box. When they are out of possession St Mirren are structured in a way that's pretty standard to the way they have been. I think the biggest thing you can say is the players know it, they understand what they need to do. That's why they have had such a good season. Our record there has not been good in general over the years but since I've been taking the team we've managed to get points at times but I don't think any of the performances you are going to say, 'Aye, that was a good performance'. I'd like to try and change that. Plus, where we are in the season, what is at stake. St Mirren need two points to get into the top six. The next two are massive for them. For us, we want to continue to create that gap. Like last week, this week is another chance to do that against a team right below you.

How difficult can it be to get a good performance at St Mirren because of the way they play?

One thing, you know you will have been in a game. Every game we've played against them has been the same, you come out the other side and you think, 'That's been hard work, it's been hard to get anything from it'. There are elements of the game we can control and we haven't done well enough, simple as that. We have had to force it. A bit of quality last season with Baz [Barrie McKay] through to Gino [Josh Ginnelly] and he gets a penalty that gets us something from the game. Earlier on in the season, it was an individual mistake, there wasn't much in the game. We need to carry more of a threat than we have done in the past there. 

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Is it quite difficult at this stage of the season to be performing at 100 per cent when you have got such a gap?

I think it could be but I don't think it is. We've got the semi-final, the competition for places is high. I've made it clear to everybody that if there comes a point where players want to take a month of just doing enough, coasting, you are not going to last long. We need to keep going, pushing and pushing because that demand is going to be there every four days if you get into Europe. You either have the drive or you don't. If you don't have the drive you will get found it. On top of that, individually, we had 11 players away for the international break the last time, they have all got camps or tournaments in the summer they will want to be part of so that individual element is there as well. I don't think it will be a problem but I know there is that element that we have got to guard against.

Was there much disruption from having to change training?

No, not so much. At the start of the week, we train later anyway. We knew the weather would be like this all week so we managed to plan. It's just when it's last minute - you think one thing and the other happens. Fortunately, we don't have that here. It's part and parcel of Scottish football, I suppose.