Steven Naismith has confessed that he's still undecided on who will be his Heart of Midlothian No.1 this season.
Craig Gordon has been picked to start today's Premier Sports Cup clash against Falkirk. It will be the veteran shot-stoppers first competitive appearance since a bittersweet Scotland farewell cameo in early June, with Zander Clark being handed the Hearts gloves for the opening two Scottish Premiership matches of the 2024/25 season.
Even at 41, Gordon is still pushing 32-year-old Clark to the limit and Naismith reckons the former St Johnstone goalkeeper has taken his game to a new level over the past six months.
In spite of that, it's left the Hearts manager with an extremely tough selection choice.
"The reason he's playing is because we've got two goalies who are really neck and neck in terms of quality," Naismith explained to BBC Scotland prior to the League Cup clash at the Falkirk Stadium.
"They have both trained really well and played in pre-season really well, and we've yet to distinguish who is going to be our number one.
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"We might get to the point where there is a number one, but until that comes then I'll keep trying to work out which one is the best.
"The quality is right the way through the squad. The bench today is a really strong bench and it's the same with the goalies. The one thing about the two goalies is that no matter whether they are playing or not, they push and they push and they push each other, and that's why they are both at the level they are.
"That's why Zander goes for six months to a new level, in my opinion, last season and why Craigy gets back to his level after such a bad injury is because of that competition.
"It's healthy, although it has been tough the past few weeks because you've only got one game a week, but as the games now come, we need to use everybody and we need to make sure everybody is ready to be called upon."
