Steven Naismith will take his Heart of Midlothian side to the City of Discovery this weekend as they look to record to build on the opening day draw with Rangers in the Scottish Premiership.

Hearts face a Dundee side who finished top six last season and gave the Tynecastle Park side plenty of close games.

Naismith discussed the threat of Tony Docherty's side, transfers, reflections on the Rangers game and the Dens Park surface.

Read everything he said below...

What's the latest with Andres Salazar?

I'm not really expecting anything to be announced until next week. The process is the process, but we're confident.

Is Kyosuke Tagawa leaving the club and if so will you look for a replacement?

We got an offer that was acceptable. It wasn't straightforward that we wanted him to go. We had a conversation with him. He's a great person who trains all the time and is really professional. He has got good qualities. He suffered minutes-wise last season because of the form of other forwards. When opportunities came - and they were limited - he didn't do enough to force somebody out of the team. I think this suits everybody. It was definitely his desire that he wanted more minutes. In all honesty, I couldn't confirm he was going to get that here. That's why this has happened. I'm not sitting here with an urgent need to replace him. We have Shanks, Boycie, Kenneth, James Wilson and Musa, so we are healthy upfront. This is somebody going out. There is stuff there if we want to do something but there are three weeks left [of the window]. We will have a look and see what or if. It's not something we have a burning desire to go and do.

Is the Dundee game the type you need to win to close that gap to the top two over the season?

It's an important game because, a year ago, we got beat in the same fixture. There was a lot within that performance which I believe we have moved on from. We are in a better place, which will hopefully help. We have a really competitive squad. It's going to be a tough game, we know that. These away games at tough venues, there are a good five or six of them outwith the Old Firm ones where you can't underestimate going into them. Last season, Dundee performed consistently at a really good level. They have made some signs that improve them, but early in the season you need a focus and drive to a performance and win. We will need a lot of what we showed last week against Rangers in terms of attitude, application. I think we have been consistently good on the tactical side. The work we do, the players have picked it up well over the last year. It has worked a lot of times. I have no doubts on that side, but the energy and intensity of what we do is going to be key.

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Analysis of Rangers game - anything surprise or stand out for you?

The performance was better than I thought. You look at possession and, yes, we had much less but we were so much more effective in the game than Rangers were. That's on our duels, tackles, chances created, shots, the lot. Immediately after the game, I thought: 'Yeah, we were good, maybe a wee bit off with the finishing.' It was a much better performance than what we have been against Rangers, especially last season. That was really pleasing. The players enjoyed it and I think for everybody it was entertaining. It's a good base to start the season but we need to go into this one with the same energy and intensity to come out with three points.

Grate more that you didn't win?

You are always saying you are disappointed when you don't have the three points. Being at the start of the season, the last part to come is that sharpness in front of goal. That's probably the wee bit which was missing. I won't dwell on it too much because I know the foundations of the performance will mean more over the coming weeks if we continue it. We will get the rewards, rather than getting a win and just thinking: 'Oh, brilliant.'

Can you push for second place?

I'm not even thinking about that. I want us to do exactly what we did last season and then take it from there. That's moving the club forward and being successful. The added thing of having European football, we will see where we go with that, but if we can do that I'd say that's success. I want us to keep moving and pushing forward. For the last two rounds of fixtures before the split last season, our consistency was really good. That's going to be a big part this season. We need to be consistent. The added challenge of the schedule is going to be testing but I believe we have the squad. We have recruited really well.

Twelve months on with the pre-season you've had, are the team fitter, more dynamic and have more energy?

I think we are more dynamic but I wouldn't want to question the energy levels last season weren't good because they were good. But I think we are definitely more athletic, more powerful and we can get up and down the pitch because a lot of that energy comes just as much when we've go the ball. Our reaction as soon as we lose it, if that's good we don't need to be up and down the pitch. I think there are a lot of aspects we have got better. Just all round everything seems much more familiar to most of the players, what we are asking them, the default of what we expect are becoming second nature to players which with anything that is the part you need to keep grinding on and then it will come and it becomes much quicker and better. The players learn it quicker the more we are doing it. We are in a much better place than we were a year ago.

Trip to Dens Park underline how tough Scottish football will be to the new boys?

Yeah but I wouldn't say there have been many over the course of the last year that have turned up and you've thought, 'Oh, he's not read the room here, he doesn't understand what's coming'. There have not been many like that. It is something we do as coaches, we do highlight that a lot, playing at Tynie is one thing but going away and through the winter months that is totally different. We need to be consistent with all of them. I have no concerns about anything like that.

How do you introduce Musa?

Since he came in until now, he's definitely more comfortable in all aspects whether it be on the pitch, being around the players. He's one I am not putting any pressure on. If anything he is desperate to play and wants to be involved so there is a disappointment on that part of it but we've reassured him that he is going to play a part and he will. This month is a bit of going against the grain compared to what it is going to become because there is only one game. As long as I explain it I am comfortable with it, he's comfortable. He will get minutes, he will be useful to us. He's got attributes others in the squad don't have. It's just about being patient.

What did you make of James Penrice's debut. He was excellent but somewhat overshadowed by Gerald?

Yeah, I would agree with that. He's unlucky, I actually text him that after the game saying all the plaudits will be going everywhere else but him. He was very impressive for me. His natural ability to defend is good, his athleticism and anything on top of that. What he has had to go through in pre-season in terms of lack of games you could think he would look rusty but I don't think he did. Going into the game, we pencilled in that he probably going to be coming off at some point. It shows his mentality. That was a big driver for me to sign him. That mental toughness to get through tough moments. It was really impressive and really pleased with where he is. When I met him, spoke to him before, I would take his mentality over anybody. It's really impressive.

Looking forward to new Dens pitch?

The pitch will be good I expect. I will tell you after the game if it was good or bad but that's probably down to our performances. It is what it is. With referee decisions, grounds, there needs to be a realisation of what we've got in the game, the amount of money put in. We've not got an ever-ending amount of money to make things perfect. It's not something you will ever hear, me making it an excuse about a result because of a pitch or anything like that. I imagine it will be good at this time of the year, they all are. It's for us to go out there and put a performance on.

Were the club interested in Kieron Bowie?

We get loads of players put to us all the time. I've been in the game a long, long time so I am pretty sure when we have been signing players agents and people have been telling us that loads of clubs are interested. We identify players we want to sign then we go for them. We were not involved with anything to do with that deal. That's where it is at. With our recruitment, we consistently look at players. There are loads that are put in, we identify the ones we want and anyone we want we will move on. But he wasn't one.

Beyond Beni and Calem Nieuwenhof, how is the squad?

Everybody else is fit. Kingsley has had a full week of training. He's one that will be itching to play. Other than that there are no others out, just those two. They will probably be international break when we are expecting them to be back in squads. Between now and then they are out on the pitch which is good. It's just about building them up.

Steven Naismith was promoting Premier Sports' live and exclusive coverage of Dundee v Hearts on Saturday. Premier Sports is available to stream from premiersports.com or via your TV provider on Sy, Virgin TV and Amazon Prime as an add-on subscription.