Naismith, who spent five successful seasons at Rangers, returns to Ibrox to face Graeme Murty’s side on Saturday.
Jim Jefferies thought Steven Naismith would end up back at Rangers, as the striker gears up for his first return to Ibrox since leaving in 2012.
Naismith spent five successful seasons at Rangers, with whom he won three Scottish Premiership titles, two League Cups and an FA Cup.
But the 31-year-old was one of several players who severed their Ibrox ties ahead of the club’s demotion to the fourth tier, and chose to continue his career in English football with Everton and then Norwich City.
Having fallen out of favour at the latter club, however, rumours of a Rangers return for Naismith were rife in the lead up to the January transfer window.
But the 45-cap Scotland international later signed for Hearts after an offer from Ibrox failed to manifest.
And Jefferies, a former Hearts manager who introduced Naismith to professional football at Kilmarnock, told the Scottish Sun: “There was a lot of talk about Rangers going back in for Naismith before he signed for Hearts last month.
“Most people, myself included, thought if they had gone back in for him that’s where he would have ended up. But since then he has come out and said that Rangers never made him an offer and Hearts did.”
Naismith is not the only ex-Rangers striker set to face his former club on Saturday, with Kyle Lafferty also on Hearts’ books.
And Jefferies has warned Graeme Murty’s side the pair will not be at all fazed by the occasion.
“Naismith and Lafferty have played in plenty of big games,” he added.
“Going back to Ibrox won’t bother them one bit.
“If anything it will make the pair of them even more determined to go out there and remind the Rangers fans how good they are.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
