Steven Naismith defends Hearts ticket stance against individual 'agendas' as Jambos right to look after their own

Steven Naismith has hit out at ‘individual agendas’ and insists Scottish football needs a collective solution to ticket rows.

But until one is found, he is absolutely adamant Hearts are right to look after themselves. The Tynecastle outfit have come under fire for handing Celtic only one section of the away end –just 576 seats – for Sunday’s league clash. It comes after the Hoops turned down Rangers’ offer of only 700 briefs and crossed the city to Ibrox with no backing earlier in the campaign.

At the end of last season, there was also no away allocation for supporters at the Old Firm clashes following talks between the two Glasgow rivals.The SPFL has asked clubs if they would be willing to back a rule stating a fixed percentage must be offered to the visiting clubs. But with Hearts indicating they are against such a proposal, Naismith reckons it is just one of many issues that need an SFPL-wide approach.

He said: “We will firstly look at our fans. If we have built a following that is continuing to grow, we must give them the opportunity to watch us.

“The question is not individually to each club, it’s about the collective. We could learn a lot from other leagues but we tend not to. It tends to be individual agendas.

“When I was at Rangers (under Walter Smith), there was congestion of fixtures when we got to the UEFA Cup Final. This season, every team struggled through the start with Europe but the league doesn’t help you.

“That’s not the league’s fault, it’s everybody in Scottish football’s fault. At this moment in time, with the structure as it is, it isn’t going to change. That’s why we, as a club, need to look after Hearts.”

Hearts have a reciprocal arrangement with rivals Hibs that sees each club get the entire away