Steven Naismith lauds 'brilliant' Hearts star and explains why James Wilson had to wait for league debut

Steven Naismith has lauded Barrie McKay after his brilliance helped Hearts to victory over Dundee.

The winger assisted the first two goals of the 3-0 Tynecastle win, setting up Kenneth Vargas to open the scoring and then producing an eye-catching pass for Alan Forrest for the second. Lawrence Shankland carried on his sublime goalscoring form from this season to round things off.

McKay has missed most of the campaign with a knee injury and has been in and out of the team as he builds up his match fitness back up. But he had a similar impact today as he did on a previous start against Livingston and his manager was delighted with his contribution.

Naismith said: "He’s a brilliant asset to have. Baz isn’t fit, you can see that, he’s been a long time out. He’s got unbelievable quality and he’s good at managing himself within that game and lasting 80 minutes.

“He started against Livingston and came up with some big moments. Today his quality’s good again. What we get out of him this season is a bonus. He’ll be really important next season.

“It’s always tough for players coming, when you miss a big chunk of the season everybody is at their peak and you’re trying to cling on to get there, I've been there myself. We’ll not see him at his prime and best condition until after preseason I think but he’s still contributing so that shows you the quality he’s got.”

James Wilson, 17, made his league debut for the club after making his full debut against Spartans in the Scottish Cup earlier in the season.

Naismith had praise for him too, adding: “Young players will get opportunities here but they are not just going to get given opportunities for the sake of it. James has had to be patient, he’s been frustrated at times that he’s not had a chance and not been able to get in but I’ve lived it as a young player and I understand it.

“If he goes in too early his confidence can take a drop which then takes four months to get back to where he was. We need him to have a steady rise and going forward he will be a big player like Macaulay and Denholm this season.”