Heart of Midlothian's head coach Steven Naismith remains confident in his ability to lead the team out of the Scottish Premiership's relegation zone.

However, he acknowledged the mounting pressure following the Jambos' eighth consecutive loss in all competitions, this time against St Mirren.

Naismith was greeted with jeers from the travelling Hearts contingent in Paisley and his role in the hot seat has never felt more precarious. 

"There's not much I can say that's going to appease anyone's frustrations and anger," the Hearts boss admitted. "We started the season without winning a game, so it's bitterly disappointing.

"I thought today we started well. We had opportunities, we didn't take them. That final moment is tough. Then two set plays. Back to when I first took over, we were soft at set plays. Today we looked soft at set plays. Ultimately, that's cost us."

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Asked if he was confident he could turn things around after supporters chanted for him to be dismissed during the match at the SMISA Stadium, Naismith replied: "Yes, because of our performance at the start. The first-half performance was good. The last moment wasn't good.

"Because of the start of the season, we started to feel we needed to be safe. You're losing the game, we become safe. We don't play the passes we did in the first half. It caused them problems. The second half fizzles out because of that. I'm still confident in that.

"I'm realistic to understand that the more games we pass, the more pressure builds.

"The one thing I've felt my whole time at the club as a player, as a coach and as a manager, is that the board are realistic, they're sensible, they understand it. They make good decisions, in my opinion. They have been in the club for the last five years. That'll be what it'll be.

"I can totally understand the fans' frustration. The travelling support, the backing we get is fantastic. At the moment, we're not rewarding that. That's a big disappointment."

Probed further if he'd heard from the Tynecastle hierarchy if his position was threatened, the former Scotland international stated: "The way we've worked and the way I've worked for the last year, I've not seen any change in anybody.

"As I said at the start, I'm realistic, I understand the game. I'm confident that if I get to a point where I really believe that the players aren't actually listening to me anymore or are interested, I'll walk away from it. I don't think I'm at that point. We'll review the game and work hard to get on to Ross County next week."