Forrest and Vargas praised by Naismith

Alan Forrest set up two goals at in Hearts’ 2-1 win in the cinch Premiership at Livingston while Kenneth Vargas opened the scoring with a well-taken strike, his second in two games after the counter against Ross County. Both players earned praise from head coach, Stephen Naismith.

The former Scotland international said: “I thought the two of them were really good. For me, Alan was Man of the Match. He is somebody who has had to be patient, somebody who has really good attributes.

“I questioned his final moments, can we get them more consistent? He has worked as hard as anybody in the squad to get his opportunity. He has done it and hopefully he will sign a new contract soon. He is a big player for us.

“Kenneth is a player who has suffered by being used a lot and doing a lot of hard yards and people were probably expecting a bit more but he has real quality and, in the last two games, he has impacted them. Really good overall.”

Naismith argued: “When I have said he (Kenneth) has great attributes it is very natural. You can teach somebody to be a bit better at finishing but when you see so many going through on goals and hitting the goalie or putting it wide he has a calmness.

“He has an understanding about how to use his body and he has got really good attributes. He is young, he is inconsistent, but he will be a really good player.”

Naismith revealed that the way the deal with Vargas is structured in such a way that there is rush to sign the player on a permanent deal and club bosses are in touch with his representatives and the club he came from. 

The player is comfortable with the situation, said Naismith, and he added: “I think he is somebody we would need to look at potentially keeping.”

The coach said that Lawrence Shankland is “raging” that he missed two penalties recently but he said the skipper had “a calmness” and the penalty miss at Livingston did not put him off his game. Shankland scored the winner with a superb goal with the outside of his foot after 64 minutes.

Naismith also said that he has needed his squad in the last month and added: “Overall, we are on a really good run. So the boys have a well-earned break.”

PICTURE: Alan Forrest arriving at Livingston by David Mollison

Kenneth Vargas celebrating his goal at Livingston by David Mollison

Frankie Kent under real pressure v Livingston at the Tony Macaroni by David Mollison

Hearts under pressure at Livingston by David Mollison