Hearts captain Steven Naismith has spoken of Roberto Martinez's demise at Everton.

The Spaniard was eventually sacked after Naismith had already left the club, and the striker attempted to put his finger on exactly what went wrong for his former boss.

He told evertonfc.com: “I'm not sure… there were a few changes in the team and he [Martinez] maybe tried to promote more of the younger boys," says Naismith.

“The young players we had, their talents were unbelievable: Stonesy [John Stones], Ross Barkley, Gerard Deulofeu, their natural ability was incredible.

“But maybe, at times, the manager was stubborn in the way he wanted to play and kept them in the team. In some games he could have thought, 'No, let's just get the result and get out of here'.

“He was adamant on how he played.

“You get to a stage in a match where it might be best to take a point or fight the other team at their own game. But he had no interest in that whatsoever. I admired that in him, though.

“That is why I liked it under him so much. There was a certain way and style of play and it was everything to him.

“You could see that in the way he took us in training and prepared – it was all directed to a definitive way of playing."