Steven Naismith bemoans lack of energy as Hearts slump to defeat at Dundee

Steven Naismith conceded his “sluggish” Hearts side got what they deserved as they crashed to a 3-1 William Hill Premiership defeat away to Dundee.

The Jambos arrived at Dens Park in optimistic mood after an encouraging display in their opening-day draw at home to Rangers but found themselves 3-0 down at the end of a calamitous first half on Tayside.

Dundee forward Scott Tiffoney capitalised on poor goalkeeping from Zander Clark to open the scoring in the 23rd minute before the visitors shipped two further goals in first-half stoppage time as Gerald Taylor sliced a clearance into his own net and Luke McCowan netted a penalty after Frankie Kent fouled Tiffoney.

Kent pulled one back in the second half, but Hearts had left themselves with far too much work to do.

“I’m disappointed, we got the credit for last week’s performance, but we were really poor in the first half here,” said Naismith.

“The first 20 minutes was a fight and we were second to everything, they seemed to be picking up the second balls. We weren’t aggressive enough.

“It was like deja-vu from the first game up here last season (a 1-0 win for Dundee) where we were sluggish and slow and they got the better of the 50-50s.

“The three goals were poor, we made our own downfall, we didn’t defend well enough and gave them the chances.

“But ultimately we didn’t have enough energy and that’s what cost us the three points. That energy from last week wasn’t there.”

The victory took Dundee above Rangers on goal difference at the top of the fledgling Premiership table.

Manager Tony Docherty was delighted with the ruthless manner in which his team dismantled a Hearts side widely expected to repeat last term’s top-three finish.

“I felt it was almost a complete team performance,” he said. “I have seen loads of good performances, but that was as good as I’ve seen in the first half.

“I thought it was a real top performance and it had to be against a really good Hearts team.

“We carried out the game plan to the letter and I thought we deserved to be 3-0 up.”

Dundee defender Ziyad Larkeche was taken off on a stretcher in the second half, but Docherty allayed any fears that the Frenchman had suffered a serious injury.

“He is fine, we got a wee fright,” said the manager. “But the doctor and physio have assessed him and he’ll be okay.”