Skipper Craig Gordon admitted the squad lacked sharpness and called for a change in preparations after Saturday's 1-1 draw with Rot-Weis Essen in Germany.

And striker Michal Pospisil claimed the players were tired and their second training camp of the summer was unpopular.

The presence of former head coach Eduard Malofeev has caused concern among fans after his spell in charge last year ended in a run of seven games without victory amid reports of outdated training methods.

However, Frail has assured them that everyone is pulling in the same direction at Hearts, who still have Anatoly Korobochka in the role of interim head coach.

Frail said: "They need to just keep with us. Yes, there's a lot things coming out of the club in terms of different people coming in and different methods.

"But that's Hearts and that's the way it is.

"There's a lot of negativity that surrounds us and it's easy for people to knock us, but we won't let them knock us because we know what we have here in terms of our staff and our players and we are all fighting hard to make sure we go in the right direction."

Pospisil claimed training was all hard work and running and Gordon said he expected to move on to a "football-specific" programme.

Frail told Hearts World: "Yes, there are times when players are a little bit unhappy with the training they are doing.

"But that's just because it's pre-season and it's a slog at times, and they are doing two sessions a day and their legs are tired and heavy.

"But I can't see it being different from any other club. We just need to keep working away and follow our plan."

And Frail claims the input of fitness coach Tam Ritchie and sports scientist Andy Murray has helped the coaching staff employ a sophisticated approach to pre-season training.

"It has changed a heck of a lot since I did it," Frail explained.

"When I first started out, pre-season was basically just two weeks of hard slog and running."