STEVEN Naismith believes the tragic death of former Hearts captain Marius Zaliukas will give the Tynecastle club an extra incentive to defeat Celtic in the William Hill Scottish Cup final next month.

Naismith only ever played against the Lithuanian defender, who passed away at the age of just 36 at the weekend following a long illness, and didn’t know him personally.

However, he was still stunned to learn the man who skippered the Gorgie club to the famous 5-1 victory over their capital rivals in the 2012 final had died after the semi-final triumph over the Leith outfit on Saturday night.

The Scotland forward, whose arrival on the field in the second-half on Saturday lifted Hearts, knows there will be no shortage of motivation to win the final against the defending champions on December 20.

But he feels that manager Robbie Neilson, who played alongside Zaliukas before hanging up his boots, will be desperate for his charges to pay tribute to his old team mate.

“It’s terrible news,” said Naismith. “We’ll use his memory as we work towards to the final. He was a big character at the club over the years. You still see his pictures around the stadium.

“Marius’s memory and his loss is something I’m sure the manager will tap into and obviously we will now go into that final hoping to win it in his honour. It would be great to go and win the cup for him.”

Naismith remained at Hearts this summer despite them being relegated back in May when the Premiership was curtailed by the SPFL and final placings decided on a points per game basis.

The 34-year-old admitted that their cruel fate last term – they were consigned to the drop despite being just four points adrift with eight games remaining - was spurring them on to perform well every day.

“What happened back then has happened and the consequences of that are that we are in the league below where we should be,” he said.

“But we use that as a motivation every single week - we want to get back to the Premiership as quick as we can. We’ve accepted that we are favourites for the league. We have grabbed that mantle and said: ‘Aye’.

“In the cup competitions we fancy ourselves. We don’t think we’re lucky to be here or anything like that. We believe that and we showed it at Hampden.”

Naismith felt Craig Gordon was Hearts’ outstanding performer on Saturday night - and he fully expects him to once again be an important player for the Tynecastle club when they face his former club Celtic in the final.

“He’s made two world class saves,” he said. “I knew when he got him that he would be the best signing we’ve made by a country mile, just for his pure quality.

“He’s worth eight points a season on his own. He’s won us this semi final - with having him in the goal, we’re in the final. He played a bigger part than anybody else.

“To be honest, when you’ve got that guy behind you, you’re delighted. You feel much more confident. Even when they got the penalty, I was standing there thinking: ‘Craigy might save this’.

“It was a very shrewd bit of business for the club and everyone has seen the bigger picture on what he brings. And what he brings is success.”

Naismith won the Scottish Cup with Rangers back in 2009 and confessed he would love to hold the trophy aloft once again 11 years later.

“It would be brilliant,” he said. “You never get sick of winning trophies. I would treasure it. I’ve got the same hunger and desire to win trophies and you know how good it is to do it when you’ve done it.

“It gives you a great sense of achievement and we’ll strive for that, but I don’t think the boys need too much motivation. The manager and coaches have instilled that and the morale around the squad is the best that it’s been since I’ve been at the club.”