Steven Naismith has his say on Hearts' red card, biggest games to come and his clash with Celtic's Jota

Frustrated by defender Alex Cochrane’s red card against Celtic, Steven Naismith admitted Hearts are now facing their two biggest games of the season against St Mirren and Aberdeen. The Edinburgh club’s interim manager did not agree with Cochrane’s dismissal as Celtic won the Premiership with a 2-0 victory at Tynecastle Park.

The defender was initially cautioned for pulling Celtic’s Daizen Maeda back before half-time with the scoreline blank. A VAR review advised referee Nick Walsh to review the incident on a pitch-side monitor, after which he dismissed Cochrane for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

“I don't agree with it,” said Naismith. “That is my opinion but there is still a bit of work to be done by Maeda as he heads into the box. He is travelling at speed, the ball is moving, and there are recovering players. I think the referee made the right call [initially] and that was disappointing because until that moment in the game we had the best chances.

“The game had been mainly played in the Celtic half and we had a real belief that we could get something from the game. Then it became harder. As soon as the red card happens, the game hinges on the first goal. It’s as simple as that. Credit to Celtic, the goal is very good, that's what they do and you see loads of their goals come from that same kind of movement.

“Their two goals come from the same movement but we worked really hard and when we look back there will be lots of positives for us. The next two games are the biggest of the season and they will define our season.”

Elaborating on the Maeda incident, Naismith added: “Our players were in disbelief when the decision was checked and overturned because he still had a lot of work to do before he gets a finish.”

Hearts now travel to St Mirren and then meet Aberdeen at Tynecastle in their next two fixtures. Naismith feels those will define their campaign as they try to overhaul a points difference and beat the Pittodrie club to third place in the Premiership table.

“For us, the next games will be the biggest ones. This was going to be our toughest challenge but we equipped ourselves well,” said Naismith. “Before the game I said we would be aggressive and have our moments and we did that. We were brave defensively against the best forwards in the league and they never created too many until the red card.

“There are loads that we can take from it, loads of positives. I have said consistently that there’s a good group of players here, who want to do better, want to improve and be successful. In the last two performances, you can see that’s the case.”

Naismith found himself accidentally brought down by the Celtic winger Jota late in the first half. The Portuguese left the field of play momentarily as he chased the ball and his momentum took him into the Hearts coach. “Yeah, that was a red card. Nah, I went down too easily,” joked Naismith.