Hearts technical director Steven Naismith hailed the team’s defensive performance, while noting his comfort that a cutting edge will “definitely come” after a 0-0 draw with Kilmarnock at Tynecastle Park.
The home side struggled to break down a well-organised Killie team, with one shot on target across the 90 minutes. Lawrence Shankland, Liam Boyce, Alex Lowry, and new boys Kyosuke Tagawa and Kenneth Vargas all featured.
“There was some frustration there but I’m realistic and I’ve got the experience of being in these situations and there’s been a few new players come in, it’s new to them, we have played away from home in Europe and come back,” Naismith said. “You’ll have seen it a million times that these are tough performances even before you look at the opposition.
“It was a slow start. Everyone was waiting for somebody to ignite the performance but as the game went on and the second half developed it looked very good for us. We were very composed and we made Kilmarnock defend. A big positive is we looked really secure at the back. That’s one of the big areas we needed to improve on in set plays and general play and I thought we did look solid.”
He added: “We got a good result last weekend and we've had a good defensive performance where we maybe didn't create like we have done in games last season but I’m comfortable that part will definitely come.”
While Killie boss Derek McInnes was disappointed his side didn’t make “more of some really good opportunities”, he saw the result and performance as another step in the team’s evolution having started the season unbeaten and not conceded in games against Rangers and Hearts.
“We’re not celebrating coming here and getting a point, and the clean sheet and the performance,” he said. “But what I am privately celebrating is the type of team we’ve become in a short space of time. Coming through the League Cup stages and frantically trying to put a squad together that can meet the demands, we had so much to do. But the team over the last couple of games have shown so many real qualities.
“That wasn’t just a battling performance, that wasn’t us hanging in. Hearts came onto it for about 10 minutes towards the end, but I thought we were pretty assured and comfortable throughout. And I think we look as if we’ve been playing together a lot longer than what we have done, and that’s testament to the players. I think we’ve signed a good level of player and a good type of personality on the pitch.”
