Stevie Crawford believes young Hearts can cope

Hearts assistant coach Stevie Crawford speaks to the press ahead of his side's Scottish Championship fixture against Livingston. Picture: SNS

Hearts are four points clear of Rangers and go into Sunday’s clash with Livingston with an unbeaten league record.

But Crawford believes the likes of Morgaro Gomis and Prince Buaben help temper the younger players and will help Robbie Neilson’s team bounce back from their League Cup defeat by Celtic.

Crawford said on the club’s official website: “I think it’s great if the fans are expecting us to win. If that’s a pressure that we’ve got to deal with then so be it.

“We’re a big a club. We won’t be getting carried away and the players certainly won’t be getting carried away. There are no signs of it on the training ground, there are no signs of it about the place and I think that’s a credit to them.

“They were disappointed after the game against Celtic the other night. Their feet are firmly on the ground at the moment.

“We always want to get better. I know Robbie’s ambitious as a manager and he certainly looks for that in his players.

“I think if you look at the age of the squad, the experienced ones that have come in, like Morgaro, and Prince - and sometimes it’s not fair to mention names - but the two of them have done excellent and they bring calmness about the place and lead by example on the training ground. You can see that the young players respond and learn from them.