Steven Naismith enjoyed a ‘great’ relationship with Peter Haring as Hearts team-mates - now he hopes the midfielder can help make his reign as interim manager a success.
Naismith handed Haring his first start in six months in Saturday’s 6-1 thrashing of Ross County after the Austrian spent a lengthy time on the sidelines recovering from concussion.
Prior to Naismith hanging up his boots in summer 2021, the pair lined up alongside each other for three-and-a-half years at Tynecastle.
And as Hearts attempt to hunt down Aberdeen in third place in their bid to secure a potential £5 million European place, Naismith insists the 29-year-old will have a part to play in their top six matches.
Naismith said: “I’ve said that I’ll need everybody in the squad. I don’t pick teams on the basis of, ‘we won this week’, football has moved now and every team has their own threats.
“We need different players at different moments.
"Pete came in, I’ve got a great relationship as a player when I was playing and I understand what he can do.
“He was given a special role against Ross County and he carried it out perfectly.
“As much as he’s not involved in the goals he played a big part in the overall performance.”
Naismith, meanwhile, insists Hearts can have a productive post-split campaign if they continue to take in the instructions he is passing on.
The win over County ended a woeful spell of six successive defeats, the last being a defeat to Hibs in what was Naismith’s dugout debut.
He added: “We’ve got a good group of players who want to do well.
“The hardest thing as a footballer when you’re on a hard run is to still do the right things, that are riskier than going back to the goalie and letting the goalie kick it long and fighting.
“It is about paying the right passes because as soon as you do that opportunities come.
“And I think we’re a team that can cause a lot of problems to a lot of teams.”
Hearts, meanwhile, have tied down B team captain Macaulay Tait on a new two-year deal.
The 17-year-old midfielder enjoyed a successful season in the Lowland League and was named the B team player of the year last weekend.
Hearts sporting director Joe Savage said: “He is a talented young player who has reaped the benefits of a season in senior football, as evidenced with his B team player of the year award win.”
