Clevid Dikamona believes the demanding and passionate nature of Steven Naismith will set him up for success as Heart of Midlothian head coach.

The former defender played with Naismith during his time at Tynecastle Park and it was a hat-trick by the current Hearts boss which helped convince Dikamona to make the move to Gorgie after he had been released from his contract in Israel Bnei Sakhnin.

What he found in Naismith was a "professional guy" who tried to bring team-mates up to his level.

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"When I signed, I didn’t know him well," Dikamona told Hearts Standard. "I knew him as a player. I discovered a funny guy outside the pitch. Out on the pitch you couldn't have a joke with him because he was so professional. That’s good.

"He was so smart, he didn’t have to run a lot. Good movement, always in the right place at a good moment to score or make the good passes. He was thinking a lot on the pitch, he was so concentrated on the pitch. That’s something he gave to us as well. Because he put himself at one level he forced his team-mates to be at that level. I think we felt it when we were in the bad run because he was injured. The games were always easier when he was on the pitch with us. Not because he was running more than everyone else but because of the levels he was setting himself, his concentration, technically, demanding of himself and everyone else around him."

Dikamona, who now runs his own player agency, had some dealings with Naismith during the summer over the possible deal for one of his clients. And he reckons the same qualities which made him a success as a player will stand his former team-mate in good stead with the transition from playing to coaching to becoming a manager.

"When you work under his management you need to respect the rules, to be focused and you need to think a lot and concentrate a lot," he said. "You don’t need to run more because if you understand what he’s saying to you I think he is going to help you a lot to win games. He’s got a lot of passion, that’s why I think as a manager he is going to be good."