On Friday night, Hearts faced an unenviable trip to Rugby Park to play a Kilmarnock side that have already swatted aside Celtic and Rangers in Ayrshire this season. Steve Clarke’s side were admittedly without the services of their star forward Eamonn Brophy but the Tynecastle club left with an impressive three points and what is these days a fairly big scalp. Rugby Park is as an unaccommodating venue as there is in the Premiership, and beating Clarke’s side on their own patch is no mean feat.

Sean Clare opened the scoring for Craig Levein’s side before Steven Naismith scored what proved to be the winner, bringing his tally to nine league goals so far this campaign. This is a decent return at this stage in the season, particularly as Naismith missed a fair part of it through injury, and there is now an argument to be made that no other player is as important to his side than Naismith is to Hearts.

The table above highlights how many match-winning goals each player has scored this season and as we can see, only Rangers’ Alfredo Morelos has as many of these as Naismith. Friday night was the fifth occasion this season where Naismith has scored the goal to ensure his side picked up three points and he consistently makes the difference for Hearts. Morelos is his equal in this regard, but the Colombian has also played more Premiership matches than Naismith this season - he’s started 20 games, compared to Naismith’s 15 - and also leads the line for a Rangers side that win more games than Hearts do. In short, Morelos should be doing better.

It’s important to point out that this isn’t meant as a sleight against the Rangers striker. It’s a compliment towards Naismith, who is impacting games as much as the league’s best striker this season. Obviously, scoring important goals is always an asset to every striker but peculiarly, this might not even be why Naismith is so important to Levein’s side.

The Hearts striker is now 32 years old and, alongside club captain Christophe Berra, is one of the most experienced players currently at the club. This experience shows whenever Naismith is on the pitch; when he’s not directly taking charge of a match, he’s often seen barking orders to his team-mates, cajoling them into position or simply giving them a boot up the backside. Naismith has always been fairly switched on tactically-speaking and it shows on the pitch. When he isn’t there to harry his team-mates, the entire team suffers as a result.

The difference in the level of performance that Hearts put in with and without Naismith is truly staggering. Across all competitions, with the former Everton striker in the starting XI, Hearts have won 18 of their 22 matches this season. There’s been one draw, and three defeats. And it should be pointed out that one of these losses was the League Cup semi-final against Celtic, where Naismith went off injured after eight minutes.

The Hearts striker has missed nine league matches this season - eight through injury, and one through suspension - and Hearts’ record without him in the team is dreadful. In the nine matches the 32-year-old has missed, the Tynecastle club have only managed to find the net on five occasions and won just once.

When Naismith plays, Hearts gain 2.5 points per game on average. That’s higher than any other side in the Premiership; Celtic, for instance, average 2.2 points per game, and they’re top of the league. It’s impossible to say where Hearts would be in the league standings if Naismith hadn’t picked up that injury back in October, but it’s difficult to argue that they wouldn’t be a lot better off than they are now.

Levein relies on Naismith more than any other Premiership manager relies on a single player. When he’s in the team, Hearts look solid at the back and Naismith is more than capable of providing that little bit of magic to unlock a defence or turn a game to his side’s advantage. Without the Scotland international, to say that the Hearts attack looks blunt would be a severe understatement. There is virtually no creativity going forward, no-one who is able to provide a spark and Hearts seem to run out of ideas going forward very quickly.

As long as Naismith is on the pitch, Hearts have a chance of winning any game and this fearlessness is apparent to anyone watching. There are other players in the Premiership who are perhaps more eye-catching or more capable of wonderful moments of individual skill, but there is no-one more important to their team than Naismith is to Hearts.