Hearts midfielder Peter Haring believes there is further improvement to come from the Jambos under head coach Steven Naismith.
The Austrian insists Hearts are still learning to play the free-flowing, front foot style of play that Naismith is implementing and admits he is feeling very positive ahead of Hearts’ trip to Paisley on Saturday.
Speaking to the media at the pre-match press conference, Haring said:
“Naisy coming in at the end of last season had an impact on the team. He wanted to change things about how we wanted to play and in pre-season, we had the chance to go into that with a bit more detail.
“I think at the start, that worked well but then with the European games, it was a lot of games in a short space of time for us, but overall, I think we are still a work-in-progress and are still trying to nail down how we want to go forward, and I think we will keep improving.
“Most teams want to try and be on the front foot and free flowing, but at the stage we are at, it doesn’t happen every week that easily.
“That is where we are at the moment, but we had another good week on the training pitch, working on how we want to go into games, so I am feeling very positive.”
The Buddies are enjoying a positive start to their season and are unbeaten so far in the cinch Premiership, but Haring believes the Jambos are in a good place following last weekend’s victory over Aberdeen.
“St Mirren have been doing really well so far this year. They were tough to play against last season and I think they have taken another step forward. They are a threat going forward but are also solid defensively, we have done our analysis and know what we are up against.
“It will be a tough game, but we believe we can hurt them and what we want to do tomorrow is key. It is the same almost every week, we want to focus more on ourselves rather than the opponent.
“You could see with the victory last week; it changes the whole mood of the place. Obviously, you want to win every week, regardless of the opposition but at the minute, it is still very early in the season to be looking at the league table.
“It’s more about getting the performance right and if you do that, I think you will get points anyway, so our focus is on our performance and if we can get our performance right, we have a good chance of winning the game.”
