CRAIG Levein believes Steven Naismith can handle whatever reception he receives when the Hearts striker runs out at Ibrox for the first time since departing Rangers under a cloud in 2012.

The 31-year-old is sure to be given a hostile reception in Govan after he joined Everton in the wake of Rangers’ financial collapse, choosing not to transfer his contract to the new company under the stewardship of Charles Green. 

That anger was escalated when Naismith, a boyhood fan of the 
Glasgow giants, stated at the time that Rangers “no longer exist in its current form” in a press conference to explain his decision to depart, a comment for which he has since expressed regret. 

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However, Levein has shrugged off the prospect of his attacker, on-loan from Norwich City, emerging as public enemy No.1 and is adamant Naismith has endured – and prospered – in more challenging atmospheres than the one he will face tomorrow. 

“I haven’t even thought about that [abuse]. Part of the reason I am saying it’s good we can go to Ibrox with players like Naismith and [Kyle] Lafferty is they handle everything,” said Levein. 

“They have played in bigger arenas than this, and Steven is an experienced player. I don’t even know what the whole thing is about, to be honest. I am not interested. My only interest is if Steven is going to be fit or not; whether his hamstring is at a point where it can get through the game without any further injury.

“If he is I can pitch him in without worrying about anything. He is 
experienced enough to deal with whatever happens. It won’t faze him at all.

“These guys are not fazed by the game, not nervous and not worried about playing at the venue. They are just going into the game thinking, ‘I need to be at the top of my game today’. They’ll take the ball under pressure, and when an opportunity arises there’s no fear. It’s just experience, and that helps anybody in any line of work.”

Levein admits he has been impressed by the job performed by rookie manager Graeme Murty and has no doubt Rangers have improved 
following a January transfer window which saw them bring in such as Russell Martin, Greg Docherty and Jamie Murphy.

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Nevertheless, he reckons there are plenty of weaknesses to be exploited after attending their astonishing 5-3 win over Hamilton at New Douglas Park last Sunday – revealing that even the Rangers directors struggled to believe what they were seeing.

“It was the most bizarre football match I have ever seen,” said Levein. “I have never seen a match with so many mistakes in it. It was unbelievable. I was sitting with the Rangers directors and they were thinking the same.

“Some of it was brilliant, some of it was fantastic, but both teams made unbelievable mistakes. I’m hoping they do that again on Saturday.

“But Graeme [Murty] has had a difficult situation to deal with. He was going up from Under-20s to first-team, then back down, then he was back up. That will have been difficult. I know because of all the changes we have had here – changes don’t help the continuity or stabilise the team. 

“However, he seems to have stabilised things since he has been given the job. He has done a good job so I’m expecting it to be tough.”

Hearts will be without the midfield influence of Arnaud Djoum at Ibrox after the Cameroon internationalist suffered a snapped Achilles against Ross County last weekend and is expected to be sidelined for around eight months.

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And Levein confirmed Djoum will go for surgery at the start of next week as he embarks on a gruelling road to recovery.

“We had only just got to the point where he started to feel – and we started to feel – that his fitness was at a level where he could do the things that he wanted to do again,” said Levein. “The disappointment is largely for him, having to deal with injury again. 

“But obviously I’m a little bit sad about the fact that he’s not available for the team. We are a better team with him in it when he’s playing well.”  

Meanwhile, Hearts are set to extend the trial period of Ivory Coast youth internationalist Ghislain Guessan for a further week after the striker found the net in a development squad fixture against Dundee United on Tuesday.

Levein is keen to bolster his attacking options for the run-in and has urged the former Viking front-man to prove his fitness and win a contract. 

“He has done reasonably well,” added the Hearts manager. “His fitness – because he has not played a lot – isn’t at a high enough level. He has done some things well. 

“I have asked him to stay for another week to see if we can get his fitness levels up even further to see if he can do some of the things we need strikers to do in this country – which basically means more running about!”