Hearts captain Steven Naismith talks about the battle against Celtic’s Scott Brown after the Scottish Cup final

The pair had an ongoing battle with a series of incidents at Hampden Park, including one that may trigger retrospective action against Naismith when he was at Brown.

The Scottish forward said he enjoyed the challenge and despite Heart losing 4-3 on penalties, he was immensely proud of his teammates.

“It was a battle and that’s it. Broony is the type of player who tries to prevail. As a player, he is what he is, ”Naismith said. “Besides that, he tries to impose and intimidate the players and things like that.

“For me, it was about giving the best you get. Some of Broony’s reactions showed that things have been a bit more nervous lately. Every game you play is a battle. They are things that simply remain in the field.

“As players, they do everything they can to win, effectively, and that’s what everyone was trying to do.”

Brown was seen goading on the Hearts players after the shootout, though Naismith focused on the guts displayed by Tynecastle’s side. They were 2-0 behind and 3-2 behind, but drew twice to take the final to penalties.

“The coach has instilled that in the guys this season,” said the captain. “The players that he has brought in, they have all bought that. These are things that we will see in the coming weeks and they will be very positive.

“We have come face to face with the team that has dominated Scottish football and we have taken it to extra time and then to penalties. That’s positive, but we’ll be disappointed in the short term at how close it was.

“When it comes to penalties, it’s kind of a lottery, but at one point we’re two penalties away from winning the Scottish Cup.”

Naismith emphasized that Hearts will now return to focus on winning the championship title and earning promotion after a controversial summer relegation. He explained that Riccarton’s team has shown that it can compete with the best in the top flight.

They knocked out Hibs to take his place in the Scottish Cup final and then matched a Celtic team that has now won the last 12 national trophies in Scotland.

“It was not a case of us defending for 90 minutes trying to take this game to penalties,” Naismith continued. “We scored three goals in a cup final, which shows that we were a threat.

“We accepted from the beginning of the season that we are favorites for the league and we have to do a job. We believe that we are bigger than the league we are in. In general, we have quality in the team and you could see that with the guys who came off the bench.

“We know that it is the most important thing for the club, to be back in the Premiership. That goes without saying. When we get back to training, we’ll get back to league business. When the next Scottish Cup draw comes, we will tie it to this season. “

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