Steven Naismith welcomes Hearts hot streak but insists it's long overdue as Kilmarnock win ends five year wait

Steven Naismith insists this Hearts hot streak is long overdue after the Jambos made it four Premiership wins on the spin for the first time in FIVE years.

The Gorgie men edged out Kilmarnock thanks to keeper Will Dennis’ first half gaffe after he diverted Lawrence Shankland’s prod across the face into his own net. The No.1 was also fortunate to avoid a red card after taking out Yutaro Oda after the offside flag had gone up, but Killie were left kicking themselves after struggling to find a cutting edge.

Naismith was thrilled to dig out another result in tough conditions and climb up to third in the table. He said: “The four wins is good. Three consecutive wins took two years for us to hit, and this has taken us five years. If I’m honest for a club like Hearts – and I’m sure a few others will say the same – it shouldn’t take five years to go on a run like that.

“It’s three points and it keeps us ticking over. The run of games is good but the way we have been dealing with them has been brilliant. Every game has been different in what we needed to do to win.”

Hearts managed to ruin Derek McInnes’s 700th game as a gaffer – but they did it the hard way. Killie created plenty of chances but didn’t have the composure where it mattered with Corrie Ndaba going closer than most on his first start since October.

It wasn’t pretty – but it was never going to be with the snow shovelled off the rock hard surface in the build up and the pitch getting even more tricky as the temperatures plummeted in the second half. But the Jambos managed to hang tough and keep the momentum building.

Naismith said: “It probably feels good because you know what it’s going to be like. The conditions, the pitch – it is what it is. You need to play a