Hearts star could make first appearance since December

Steven Naismith sat down with the press on Tuesday to look ahead to the fixture. The Hearts head coach provided more detail on the club's team news, including updates on Stephen Kingsley, Jorge Grant and Liam Boyce. He answered questions on Hibs' decision to sack Nick Montgomery and discussed Beni Baningime's future.

Read everything he said below...

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What is the team news?

Boycie will be back in the squad. Grant is ill and hasn't been in today. Kingsley has a wee neuro issue with his back. It's just a wee bit on his hamstring so he won't be involved. It's good to get Boycie back but there hasn't been any pressure. He has worked really hard, he feels good and he brings something different. We probably don't have the same profile as him. He is one of the older guys now, has calmness on the ball and can drop a shoulder to start attacks as well as being a goalscorer. He will be valuable next season and what we get from him this season is just a bonus.

How big would it be for him to get back on the pitch going into the summer?

It gives him the chance to go and work hard and be ready for pre-season. He came into the team during the season and was good after a slow build-up from an injury before. When he got injured it was disappointing because he was really influential for us. This would be a good way to finish, then a break to be ready for a full pre-season.

When a manager loses their job is there an etiquette involved, do you make contact?

I'm new to the job so I'm not sure on the etiquette. I think it's just what you are like as a person. Am I surprised? I probably am. He didn't even get the full season. Where the club was when he took over, you could tell it wasn't going to happen overnight. Earlier in the season, people were suggesting I was under pressure. It's the nature of the industry now. I don't think it's right. I think we are showing what can happen if you have everybody on the same page. You have everybody inside the club understanding - even when it's not going well - why decisions were made and where you think you can get to. We had that and it has worked out really well for us.

Just generally do you roll your eyes at seeing a manager being replaced so quickly?

It's the norm now. That's how it feels. No matter the amount of work you do, at no point can you really feel you've got that safety. David Moyes is an example. After what he has done over the last three or four years at West Ham, for them just to shake his hand seems a bit crazy to me. But it's the industry, it's social media, it's everybody needing success right now.

Is management about more than winning?

For some clubs and a lot of fans, that is it. It's this craving for instant success. When you see a team getting instant success, straight away it's just categorised as: 'That's us, it's normal, that's what we should do.' I probably learned the most from David Moyes that things take time, things take hard work and, if you do that, success lasts. It's not an overnight thing or a one-season thing. When I went into Everton, you see his imprint on so much. Over time, hopefully, we get back to a bit of normality and understanding that managers can get an initial reaction but if you want real success it needs to be deeper than that.

Does Hearts' progress made Hibs situation worse?

I wouldn't say that how we have grown, how we've been successful has impacted them that much. We beat them in a tight game, you have the natural fallout from that, but I've really just been looking at us. I just want us to be good and win. When a manager comes in a third of the way through a season and loses his job by the end of it, could you say he has had a fair shot at it? I'm not sure he has.

Do you still keep in touch with Moyes?

We keep in contact over time. You build relationships with people in football, not just your managers. I've been fortunate that I've had a good relationship with a lot of them. You can always lean on them at certain points. He is one of a number who definitely helped me as a player and who I will look to any time I want to look for an answer.

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What have you learned from David Moyes' career?

Just on experience working with him, how he works, how everything is clear, the amount of hard work he does. That's the biggest thing. But he started off as a young coach, similar at Preston, went in there and did really well. Takes over an Everton that are rock bottom, lucky to just stay in the league. There were so many problems behind the scenes and he comes in and it is not a case of 'we're going to win the Champions League' at day one. It's about build and build and he did that. When I go to the club he has taken them to the Champions League and still competing so you get to see everything they had gone through and beyond that I think you need to have the right club for you as a person. You see that all over and some managers take jobs that don't suit them. I don't think Sunderland was right for him but then the others ones he has taken you have thought have been right and he's done a good job. I think he is the manager with the third-highest number of games in the Premier League [only Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger with more] and that tells you everything you need to know about his qualities. 

Going back to the period around the AGM and the noise, it is all fresh to you, what are you thinking at that point?

The board were brilliant. One thing I have been clear since taking over here is that the people who matter in the club, I need to have contact with on a regular basis, whether that's the fans, the players, the staff or the board. I'm not having Chinese whispers. I'll say what I think, I'll tell you why I have made this decision. Whether it is a fan asking a question or a board member, I'll give you my reasons, I've thought through why I made the decisions. I was calm in that situation because I knew there was a lot of good stuff happening on the training pitch. in the games, it wasn't free-flowing but we didn't get a doing in many games. It was an individual mistake or one moment we didn't do something right. That gave me a lot of hope. I was quite calm and if I am honest I'll be a football manager until the day I am sacked or moved on or had enough. It's not everything in my life that it consumes me. It consumes me day to day but it doesn't consume everything about me that I worry about what is going to happen. If I'm honest, I'll do it until the moment I don't.

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Beni spoke after the game about making his decision on his future. Are you confident he is staying?

I hope he tells me soon! I've got a great relationship with Beni. He was in the academy at Everton when I was there. Since he has been here I've got on well with him as a coach. I can understand where he is at, where he wants to go, why he wants to take time to think about it. I'm optimistic, any conversation I've had with him, what he wants in this short-to-medium term we can give him. I also understand he wants to get to as high as he can. I'm optimistic, I've been comfortable with the whole thing all along. The conversations we've had have been good. I've got real hope that he will sign and with him saying that hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later. 

If you look at how many games he has played for his age, would it be good for him to stay where he will likely play?

I'm very conscious when talking to players, I'm not selling a dream here. I'm just going to give them facts of what we can give them. He's had one bad injury and two poor loans when he was at Everton that set him back. He then comes here at a risky point where if he doesn't do well at Hearts where does he go? That's high risk but what he has done in that time is showcase himself and go 'I'm a good player'. It can be quick to go 'I'm going to capitalise on this' or do you truly believe in your ability and having another 60 games or 100 games in Europe, challenging for trophies at a demanding club? If he stays here for two or three more years he is in the prime of his career then he can look at what is bigger. It's about painting that picture for him rather than going, 'Come here, this is the best club in the world, it's going to give you this'. It's just being honest with him. Players have a feeling inside, when you are making a decision you have a feeling inside and it is ultimately the one you are going to go with. Hopefully, Beni is at that point and it is with us. 

Two games left, would you consider taking Lawrence out ahead of the Euros?

He'll be involved in the two games, he's chasing 30 goals. It's a three-game week so we will change some players. With goal scorers and guys at the top end of the pitch, a big thing for them is they keep playing. I think the international break last summer set him back a wee bit at the start of the season, he wasn't scoring. You need to persist with your goal scorers. It's a three-game week, we'll see what happens.