Steven Naismith in Hearts third spot claim climbdown but warns of path that will leave side 'doomed to fail'

Steven Naismith insisted third place IS the target for Hearts just days after claiming it wasn’t “the be all and end all”.

But the cautious caretaker refused to make any guarantees and warned that looking too far ahead would see the freefalling Jambos “doomed to fail”. Naismith moved to set the record straight after his comments just days after replacing axed Robbie Neilson caused alarm among the club’s supporters.

The 36-year-old opened his account with a 1-0 derby defeat to Hibs on Sunday - a fifth straight league loss for the side who have seen a 10-point lead over Aberdeen turn into a five-point deficit. But it was his pre-match statement which raised eyebrows and flew in the face of Tynecastle chief executive Andrew McKinlay who days earlier said sacking Neilson with seven games to go gave the club a better opportunity of rescuing third spot and the accompanying £5m Euro windfall.

Record Sport columnist and former Hearts ace Ryan Stevenson accused Naismith of delivering a slap in the face to the Tynecastle faithful. But ahead of Saturday’s clash with rock bottom Ross County the caretaker - who revealed Liam Boyce and Beni Baningime have rejoined training after more than a year out injured - said: “From the club’s point of view third is the aim. It has got to be the aim.

“Three years ago we were in the Championship, strides have been made, you get the taste of European football and what comes from that is expectation. Now the club has got to strive to be better. In the background there are lots of good things going on.

“For me, if you don’t win games you are not going to be in the mix for that. What we first need to think about is to enjoy playing football, which then gets you more chances in games and gets