Steven Naismith reveals his worst heart flu and demands penalty after win over St Johnstone

Hearts boss Steven Naismith believes his side can achieve more than a goal after Saturday’s 1-0 win over St Johnstone at Tynecastle, praising their performance in possession. Calmness on the ball. It was the home side’s third consecutive league win after beating Livingston and Motherwell before the international break.

They went on the attack in the 60th minute when Liam Boyce’s shot was blocked by Lawrence Shankland in the game’s decisive moment. Naismith explained that his biggest issue was that the team’s control was not reflected in the final score.

“It was similar to the Livingston and Motherwell games. We had a lot of control and possession,” he said. “I think we have to take it as a compliment, the team came out here and really just kept their form. They didn’t press and they kept us on the ball and tried to force us into making mistakes and then punished us. I think We are very brave and in control in what we do.

“Most of the time when they got into our final third the crowd was a little bit nervous. We decided to start forcing passes and get the ball to them. They pushed the ball forward and then they started attacking. .” In your last third of the game, you come from nothing. That was the only part, but after that we believed in it and played well. The biggest flu probably is that we didn’t score more goals.

“I think Shanks was lucky (to score). Boyce had done all the leg work and it was a controlled shot and then the ball came off Shanks’ calf and went in. Shanks for sure would claim that. By the time we got into the dressing room, everyone gave it to Shanks. It wasn’t that controversial.”

Shankland did not celebrate due to concerns about a VAR check for offside. “That’s where we are right now. It happens with every goal,” Naismith noted. “The ball hit Shanks and he probably didn’t realize that the defender was deeper than him, so that’s always how it’s going to be. But we were confident. We got the picture in quickly so we believed it was a goal. It was a goal.” It’s a goal.” It was inevitable and we needed to wait for that moment.

The story continues

“It’s similar to the last few games. We’ve worked really hard. An incredible statistic I came up with earlier this week is that we haven’t won three league games in a row since January 2022. That’s an incredible statistic for a club like Hearts. We’ve done that today and now we have to capitalize on that. As I said last week and the week before, we need to be consistent Keep clean sheets, create chances, score goals and win games. So it was a good afternoon.”

Naismith felt Hearts deserved a first-half penalty after Alan Forrest went down following a challenge from St Johnstone’s Luke Robinson. “Yeah, I think we were punished less,” he said. “It’s not down to VAR, it’s down to decision-making. It’s like that every week. We had a meeting with them during the week and it was a very good meeting.

“It was productive. It was a penalty all day but the referees are looking at the game differently now because they think VAR might get involved. If it doesn’t meet the ‘clear and obvious’ threshold, it won’t It’s a penalty. It’s a penalty, don’t argue.”

Hearts substitute Kenneth Vargas received a yellow card for simulation late in the game and Naismith was asked for his thoughts on the incident. “I didn’t see that but from everyone’s reaction I’m not sure it was a penalty.”