Hearts still undecided on one key position as Steven Naismith keeps medicine fingers crossed

Hearts head coach Steven Naismith has not yet decided on who his No 1 goalkeeper is despite starting the season with Zander Clark between the sticks.

The Jambos boss has two Scotland stoppers in Clark and 41-year-old veteran Craig Gordon to choose from this season and with the Premier Sports Cup taking centre stage on Saturday with Hearts travelling to Falkirk on the back of last weekend's 3-1 league defeat by Dundee, Naismith may be tempted to make a change. Last season, Gordon was picked for the Scottish Cup matches and while his manager would not divulge who would play at the Falkirk Stadium, he indicated that he does not yet have a preferred man to wear the gloves.

"The two goalies will play but it's not just going to be for the cup or not to be honest," explained Naismith. "Until there's a time that I maybe feel that I want to stick with one they will both play minutes. I don't think it's making my mind up. It's just seeing the way the form goes like the outfield players.

Zander Clark and Craig Gordon are fighting it out for the gloves at Hearts. | SNS Group

"Both of them have come back in really good condition. They're both at a very similar level I believe. Until that changes then we'll go this way. If it does change then it will change. Like I said before, I've had good conversations with both goalies. They both understand it and they're both up for the fight."

Naismith will demand a reaction from his team after they slumped to defeat at Dens Park last time out. The former Scotland player himself took responsibility for the defeat. "Last week was disappointing," he said. "From looking back at it, I think I got some things wrong and that's probably the biggest thing that made it tough for the players.

"The energy levels and the intensity was the bit that I was putting on the players and that's not changed but I could have helped them out a bit more. This weekend, with it being a different competition, it is different. Last season we got to two semi-finals and we want to take the steps to give ourselves to get back to at least that stage."

Frankie Kent has an issue with his toe and won't face Falkirk. | SNS Group

Hearts will be without their centre-half Frankie Kent for the match against Falkirk, who have started life in the Championship with two wins and are managed by ex-Tynecastle boss John McGlynn. "Frankie Kent's got an issue with his toe," revealed Naismith. "It's not serious. He's damaged his toenail. He's got an infection in it which is stopping him training at the moment.

Asked if the in-form defender will be able to face Viktoria Plzen next week in the Europa League play-off first leg, Naismith added: "Hopefully. It's like with any infection, how long it takes to go away, that's it. It's been like that for a fair few days so we're hoping that the medication he's on has kicked right in and it has improved most days. It's just that fine balance so that's why he misses out tomorrow."