Andy Halliday has urged Steven Naismith to forget about any idea of retirement and stick around at Hearts for a little while longer.
The former Rangers and Kilmarnock star admitted earlier this week that he was 50/50 on retirement plans but Halliday hopes the Tynecastle skipper will be around a bit longer.
Naismith has struggled for injuries at times this season and hasn't always earned a starting spot when he is fit, but has still been a key player for Robbie Neilson's men as they clinched a return to the Premiership.
And now Halliday believes it will be key for Naismith and the likes of Craig Gordon to stick around and help out with their experience when they make the step back up.
Neilson's side have a squad that have some young and inexperienced players at Premiership level in it and Halliday believes Naismith and Gordon will be key next year.
He said: “Absolutely I’m hoping he continues.
“I’m sure there will be quite a few folk in there having a quiet word with him. Not only does he bring quality but you can never undervalue experience.
“You look at him and [goalkeeper] Craig Gordon, they’ve played at the highest level, played for their country and won medals. You can’t underestimate how much that brings to a team.
"We’ve got quite a lot of young boys in there. No doubt they look at players like Steven Naismith and Craig Gordon every single day and see how hard they train and what they need to be to be a top footballer at the top level. Fingers crossed, I’ll sit and have a couple of words with him over the next couple of weeks to give us one more year at least.”
