Steven Naismith reveals Hearts management move he'll continue to pull as boss makes resilience demand

Steven Naismith insists he’ll keep rotating his Hearts side to give them an edge - but has demanded his players prove they can handle the sharp end of winning football games.

The Jambos boss was a frustrated figure after Aberdeen overturned Hearts’ half time lead to snatch an injury time victory at Pittodrie on Saturday. Naismith had already seen his players throw away a victory at Ibrox when Rangers scored twice in injury time and also surrender a two-goal lead in the Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle when Hibs rescued a point.

A trip to face Celtic is up next on Saturday and the Gorgie boss insists his players have to be mentally stronger when they get in winning positions. And he’s vowed to do his bit by keeping the team fresh. Skipper Lawrence Shankland has had three different partners in the frontline in the last three games. And Naismith said: “Each game is different. For the players it’s tough because someone could play well then not start the next game.

“I wouldn’t have liked that as a player. But the game is changing and I believe that especially in the forward areas, if you give up so much in terms of sharpness, sharp movements being the difference of beating a man or not, going game, game, game especially three in a week. That tapers off and you end up not beating your man.

“So that sharpness is so important. I learned that as a player and dealt with it. That’s where you see it, you see more change in forward areas. But each game is different.

"We go about changing our tactics to play Kilmarnock at Kilmarnock. It went against a lot of my ideal way of playing. But you have to do it in Scottish football and that impacts who you play and who you have on the bench. I do believe you have to compromise.”

Hearts left