Hearts manager Steven Naismith believes his team’s comeback from a “terrible” first half to defeat Dundee 3-2 would not have happened in previous seasons and hailed the character shown by his players as they strengthened their grip on third place in the cinch Premiership.

Trailing 2-0 at the interval thanks to goals from Jordan McGhee and Lyall Cameron, Hearts responded emphatically despite a missed penalty from Lawrence Shankland. Goals from Calem Nieuwenhof, Dexter Lembikisa and Yutaro Oda mean that Hearts are now eight points clear of fourth-placed Kilmarnock. Naismith admitted the atmosphere inside the stadium was “toxic” before his team turned it around.

"I'm delighted with the comeback,” said Naismith. “It is an area that we've highlighted before, about what we need to do to get back into games. Secondly, what you need to do when you get a goal back, or make it level, how you manage the game. Our second-half performance was really good. We got chances early, scored a good goal, but we used that momentum and pressure. For most of the second half it was attack v defence and we made the right choices when we got good opportunities

Calem Nieuwenhof got the Hearts comeback up and running against Dundee with his first goal for the club.

Naismith changed formation at the break, moving from 3-5-2 to 4-2-3-1, and quickly made subs, with Macaulay Tait, Jorge Grant, Alan Forrest and Oda all making an impact off the bench. "The first-half performance was terrible,” admitted Naismith. “We were laboured, slow and played into Dundee's hands. We spoke about how important it is after the [winter] break, the most crucial part of a season. So it was frustrating but we're here as a group, players come off, we change things because we all want to win, everyone understands that. I knew there needed to be a change because it was that flat. At half time, this place was toxic. The players knew it wasn't good enough, we knew it wasn't good enough and the fans let us know it wasn't good enough, so you are in a really tough spot. For us to come back to win is a really good strength to have, that's twice we've been 2-0 down here and we've taken points from both games. That probably wouldn't have happened in previous seasons.”

Tait, an 18-year-old academy midfielder, was singled out for praise in only his third appearance for the club. “He was the main thing,” continued Naismith. “He is a brilliant player, he's a brilliant person. He's been patient. I've worked closely with him for two years and the development in his game has been massive. You are not going to get into Hearts first-team if you are not a good player but it is his understanding of the game. He was starting to dictate the game there, telling everybody what to do, where the ball should go, when we play forward, when we should keep the ball in the final third, when to risk it. Really big from him, it was a great performance and he was the catalyst, but having Jorge Grant and Alan Forrest come on, they make a big difference as well. Overall it was a really good team performance in the second half.”

The only negatives for Hearts were Shankland’s third penalty miss in a row, and injuries to midfielders Aidan Denholm and Beni Baningime. Naismith is not concerned about his striker’s recent record from the spot – “he’ll keep taking them and he'll start scoring again” – and said it was too early to diagnose the knocks. He will hope to have Scott Fraser’s loan deal from Charlton Athletic, who sacked their manager Michael Appleton on Tuesday night, secured by the time Aberdeen visit Tynecastle on Saturday. “No update, we're still waiting,” said Naismith on the Fraser deal. “I'm hoping it can be cleared for the weekend but basically we're sitting waiting for Charlton to sign it off. I've not got a clue what the issue is but he's been in here, he's been about so hopefully it's something that doesn't take too long.”

Hearts reaction: Steven Naismith revels in turnaround from 'terrible, toxic' situation, hails Macaulay Tait and issues Scott Fraser update