Steven Naismith makes 'zombie' confession in Hearts derby throwback as he gets bullish over Hibs showdown

Steven Naismith admits he felt like a ‘zombie’ when he made his Hearts dugout debut against Hibs in April.

But he hopes this time his players scare the life out of Hibs as they look to strengthen their grip on third place. Naismith was thrown in at the deep end after being handed the reins initially as interim boss following Robbie Neilson’s sacking. He got off to a nightmare start after losing the derby 1-0 but eight months on Naismith is adamant both he and the team are in a better place as they prepare for a return to Easter Road. Naismith said: “There’s been a massive change since that game.

“I was three days in and I was probably like a zombie because I worked nearly every hour of the day – because I knew how big an opportunity it was. The squad has moved on a bit and the players are playing a different style, the fundamentals are different

"But over the last six-to-eight weeks that we have shown that we understand what we want to do. The St Mirren game was our ninth clean sheet, which is very good from where we were at that moment. We are a better threat in both boxes at set plays. So there are loads of positives from that first derby.

“The games are always good. As players you always enjoy them. I certainly went into them seeing them as an opportunity as an individual.

“But for us as a team it’s another good opportunity to get three more points and continue the consistency in results. It’s also against your rivals, so it’s easy to get up for it and be ready for it. We will be ready.”