Defiant Steven Naismith comes out fighting as under-fire Hearts boss refuses to walk away and insists players are onside

Steven Naismith says he is 'up for the fight' of trying to turn around the Jambos fortunes despite calls from supporters for him to go

Steven Naismith insists he still believes he can turn Hearts’ rotten form round - despite furious fans chanting for his head as their losing run hit EIGHT games against St Mirren.

However, the Jambos boss admitted change will happen if results don’t turn soon, adding “what will be will be” when asked if he feared the pressure from the stands could influence the Tynecastle board to pull the trigger. Hearts are still searching for their first win of the season and sit bottom of the Premeirship with just one point after the 2-1 defeat in Paisley.

A chorus of ‘Naismith get tae f***’ rang round the away end in the closing stages before the players ran the guantlet of the 1560 travelling fans at full-time with the manager heading down the tunnel. Hearts face Ross Counnty at home next weekend before beginning their Europa Conference League group campaign with a trip to Azerbaijan to take on Dynamo Minsk.

Naismith accepted time was running out and said: “It'll be what it'll be. The one thing I've felt my whole time at the club as a player, as a coach and as a manager, is that the board are realistic, they're sensible, they understand it. They make good decisions, in my opinion. They’ve been in the club for the last five years. “That'll be what it'll be. I can totally understand the fans' frustration. The travelling support, the backing we get is fantastic. At the moment, we're not rewarding that. That's a big disappointment.

“These tough moments need to come to an end. If they don't come to an end, change happens. It's realistic, it's understandable.

"But I think the one thing that's clear from the players to the coaches to all the way at the board is, everybody does understand the situation. We understand the need to get a win.

“In terms of my job, I love it. I think it's a brilliant club. I think there's so much potential. It's a really tough moment. I'm well aware of it. I understand the pressures and the consequences that come with that. But I still have full belief, if I'm honest.”

Naismith insists he would walk away from the club if he reached a point he felt the players weren’t responding. But asked if he had assurances from above that he was safe, the 38-year-old said: “I've not seen any change in anybody. I’m realistic, I understand the game. I'm confident that if I get to a point where I really believe that the players aren't actually listening to me anymore or are interested, I'll walk away from it.

“I don't think I'm at that point. We'll review the game and work hard to get on to Ross County next week. I’ve been there as a player, I've been at clubs where the change does have to be the coach. I genuinely don't believe we're there.”

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