Daniel Stendel reveals Hearts' plan to play Liam Boyce, Steven Naismith & Conor Washington together

Hearts are preparing to deploy forwards Liam Boyce, Steven Naismith and Conor Washington together to add extra impetus to their relegation fight.

After a successful experiment in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Motherwell at Tynecastle Park, manager Daniel Stendel said having all three attackers on the pitch at the same time is “a good option for us in the next games”.

Chris Long’s goal had Motherwell 1-0 ahead at half-time, at which point Stendel replaced midfielder Oliver Bozanic with substitute Boyce.

Hearts lined up for the second half in a 4-3-3 formation with Washington at centre-forward, supported by Naismith and Boyce in advanced midfield roles ahead of holder Loic Damour. Jamie Walker and Lewis Moore were the two wingers.

The change had an immediate impact as Washington restored parity from Naismith’s cutback within minutes of the restart – his second goal in successive matches. Naismith and Boyce also had chances to win the game at the end of a strong second-half display.

Stendel said the changes demonstrated Hearts’ intention to attack and score goals as they try to force their way out of the Premiership relegation zone. The ploy could now be repeated in the remaining nine league fixtures.

"It showed what we wanted. We want to win and we want to score goals,” the German told the Evening News.

“We changed at half-time, with Bozanic off and Boycie on. That was a bit more risk but it worked with Conor’s goal after a few minutes. We had a good balance in our game between defending and offence.

"Normally, we want to play with one striker, like Boycie or Naisy, and one quick player making forward runs. The second half showed us we can play with both of them and the striker. That is a good option for us in the next games.

"We had two big chances in the last few minutes and everybody would be happy if scored one of them. It did not happen. Normally we can be satisfied with the 1-1 result. The worst thing is that Hamilton won their game in the last minute.”

The draw, combined with ten-man Hamilton’s defeat of Kilmarnock, leaves Hearts three points adrift of St Mirren at the bottom of the Premiership. They travel to Paisley on Wednesday for perhaps their most important night of the campaign so far.

"We should not concede a goal like the one for Motherwell” said Stendel. “The main thing was the players kept their heads up and played positive football. It was okay, we can do better, but it was okay against a good team.

"We need to win games ourselves to change our situation. I think last week was a good week for us, beating Rangers, Hibs and then a draw with Motherwell. It is not only the results, it is our performances. This keeps us positive for Wednesday.”