Steven Naismith admits he’s excited at the prospect of new teammate Josh Ginnelly really getting to grips with Scottish football.
The on-loan Preston North End winger turned in a Man of the Match performance in the midweek Betfred Cup win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle, showing off his pace and trickery as he caused the Highlanders all sorts of problems on the right wing
Robbie Neilson’s game plan for Hearts this season is all about pace out wide and getting crosses into the box - something Ginnelly is well suited to.
Like his fellow recent arrivals, there will be a continued settling in period for the 23-year-old, but Naismith believes he has the ability to be a real difference maker once he’s fully settled in.
“We’ve seen a lot of it in the last month in training,” he said.
“Josh is someone who didn’t know a lot about Scottish football so he will need to grasp that but his raw talent is really good.
“He’s sharp and he’s a matchwinner and for him it’s about doing that week in, week out, not once out of every three or four.
“I’m excited about that. Robbo (Jordan Roberts) came on and did really well and Andy Halliday has come in in the middle of the park.
“We have a lot of competition for places, so it’s exciting.”
With games now coming thick and fas for the Championship favourites, it shouldn’t be long before everyone is fully bedded in.
From Naismith’s perspective, as many minutes as possible are key as he continues his journey back to full sharpness after a frustrating time watching the Scottish Premiership play competitive games for the last couple of months.
"It's frustrating,” he said. “You go through wee peaks and troughs of being ready then realising you're still two weeks out.
“The best thing is that it's here now and it's a case of going game, game game. You're not waiting another week.
“We've got a competitive squad and there's boys sitting there eager to get game time."
