Heart of Midlothian's pre-season friendly against Leyton Orient provided a valuable opportunity for the team to prepare for the upcoming competitive season, according to manager Steven Naismith.
The Jambos took an early lead at Tynecastle through a goal by Liam Boyce, but the visitors equalised before the half-time break with a header from Jordan Brown.
In the second half, Diallang Jaiyesimi's close-range finish secured the win for Leyton Orient.
Despite the result, Naismith expressed satisfaction with the match, noting that several new signings were able to experience the atmosphere of Hearts’ home ground for the first time, and that recently injured players were able to get more minutes under their belts as they work towards full fitness.
The friendly encounter was seen as a positive first step in the team's preparations for the competitive football season ahead - even if he confesses the football could’ve been better .
“Overall, I think you could see that everybody from both teams wasn’t at their sharpest,” the Hearts head coach said.
“The point in these games is to work on that sharpness and get back to it.
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“I said before the game that they would cause us problems with the way they play, their set up and their rotations and I think that was the case.
”It was good for us in terms of our players understanding different triggers and how to press towards that, which worked better in the second half.
“That’s the reason we’ve picked these games and look at the opposition, because you want them to test you so you can identify that. As the game goes on, both teams probably could’ve scored more goals.
“Overall, it’s good minutes for the players. Individually, there were ones that did well, others that probably won’t be as happy as they want to me.
“For the players, that’s the frustrating part of pre-season. You go through these bits where your mind is working better than your feet are, and that’s just the nature of pre-season.
“We’re in that bit where we’ve got loads of games and I expect that sharpness to progress throughout and to be ready for the start of the season.”
