Steven Naismith and Hearts brought back down to Earth in Rangers “reality check”.
Steven Naismith claims that a Scottish Premiership Rangers “reality check” has sent his Hearts side sliding back down to Earth.
The former Ibrox striker spoke after Hearts’ 5-0 defeat to Rangers, who now lead the Scottish Premiership by five points.
Hearts were on a 12-game unbeaten streak and had won nine of their previous ten games, making the trip to Rangers a test of their Premiership credentials.
But this is a test.Steven Naismith, the manager of Hearts, expressed disappointment at his team’s performance and lauded the title-chasing Rangers.
Steven Naismith discusses Hearts’ “reality check”
Speaking after the game against Rangers, Steven Naismith exposed the flaws in his Hearts team, claiming they failed to handle with the intensity of Ibrox.
Rangers’ early dominance in Glasgow serves as a wake-up call for Hearts‘ underperforming players.
“I think everybody knew,” Naismith added. “We’re an honest, open bunch, so there isn’t much to talk about.
“We recognized that we had lost terrible goals, that we lacked control when we had the ball, and that we had never played at our former level.
“It’s disappointing because we’ve made good progress, but it’s also a reality check.” When you play against the best teams, it’s difficult, and you have to be near-perfect to win.”
Rangers, the Scottish Premiership leaders, have showed “respect”
Expanding on the game, Steven Naismith believes Rangers’ league-winning performance last weekend boosted them ahead of the visit of Hearts.
The controversial ex-Gers striker has given “respect” to the Ibrox side for their spectacular performance in Glasgow.
“After last week and Rangers going top of the league and playing before Celtic we knew they would start fast and the atmosphere would be loud,” Naismith told the BBC.
“We probably didn’t handle that well enough. When we concede two goals, one early in the first half and one early in the second, we have an uphill climb. There’s a lesson to be learned.
“You have shown respect to the Rangers. They’re in an excellent spot. The league began last week, and we expected them to get off to a fast start.
“They were quite forceful with their press, and we didn’t handle it effectively enough.
“When you’re playing against Rangers and Celtic they’ve got the quality that can hurt you and that’s what happened.”
Rangers defeated Hearts 5-0, with goals from Mohamed Diomande, Oscar Cortes, Cyriel Dessers (x2), and Fabio Silva.
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