Hearts captain Steven Naismith delegates jobs around dressing room to foster unity

Since accepting the Hearts captain's armband from Christophe Berra last month, Steven Naismith has been sharing responsibility within the dressing room to build team unity.

The Edinburgh club are striving to preserve their Ladbrokes Premiership status and Naismith believes togetherness is vital.

He explained that much of his role within the squad remains similar but being captain allows him to ask more of others.

"I wouldn’t say it’s changed at all. If anything it’s more admin," he smiled. "Apart form that nothing else has changed. I’m the same as I was before. I delegate a bit more - I delegate collecting the fines! It is a team effort if I’m honest.

"Alright, I’m the captain but before I was, you’d build relationships with younger players. Maybe another young forward would ask my advice on something, just like when Christophe was captain a young defender would ask him.

"It’s a team effort. We’re not going to get out of this mess with one or two players. It’s going to be everybody. It’s about others taking responsibility as well."

Naismith explained that there is no lingering acrimony between him and Berra. The defender joined Dundee on loan at the end of last month having been deemed surplus to requirements by manager Daniel Stendel.

“At youth level we played against each other and we played for Scotland together, so we have a good relationship," said Naismith. "It was football at the end of the day. There wasn’t an awkward conversation of saying ‘aw, I’m going to be the captain now.’

"Once he was moving on, somebody was going to have to be the captain, simple as that. Christophe was the first to understand that it is football. It moves on.

"I was in a similar situation at Norwich when a new manager came in and didn’t want me. We had a few chats about that but, like I say, Christophe has experienced these things before."

The arrival of the Northern Ireland international forward Liam Boyce last month has given Hearts a new attacking focal point. Naismith believes his new colleague is precisely what the team require.

"It’s been good. The natural understanding has been there and I said that after the first game. The two biggest things are the fact he is a goalscorer and, secondly, he brings others into the game.

"We’ve probably not had that profile of a centre-forward for a wee while, someone who has got that determination to get in the box and wants to score goals.

"Also, with one flick or bit of movement, he brings others in and starts attacks. That has all played a part in why we’re creating more chances now.

"You looked at our team [beforehand] and we maybe only had two or three that would consistently get chances and score goals. That’s been something we’ve lacked since the time I’ve been here. He has definitely helped with that."