Jorge Grant has emerged as a key player for Heart of Midlothian this season after being close to leaving the club in the summer. 

He spoke to the press ahead of the trip to face Greenock Morton on Monday night in the Scottish Cup quarter-final. He discussed...

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The cup is an exciting prospect for Hearts, flying in the league and no reason you can't set your sights on the cup?

It is something we are looking to do. It’s important we know what it’s going to be like there so we have watched them a lot. We will have to start the game in the right and understand their threats, so we have to bring our game to it.

It is a dangerous attitude to think the tie is in the bag?

It’s a bit of a banana skin, an away tie at a tough place to go and everyone expects us to win so we have to deal with the pressure. I feel we have done that well this season so hopefully we can go there and do the business. 

The form you are on, you must fancy yourselves for a right good run?

We've been doing really well. Obviously people have been in and out of the team so it is important whoever comes in, whoever plays knows exactly what they are doing so I feel we have that togetherness. We're doing really well with that and hopefully that continues.

When you have a striker scoring as many goals as Lawrence you always have a chance?

On the back of last year, he probably had the pressure on him to do it again, he has shown what a top-quality player he is and be the big man of the team. It's important he keeps going and we keep giving him the opportunities to score games.

How do you keep the standards up regardless of the opposition?

Number one, you can’t be complacent. We always do our homework on the teams and it's definitely important to look at what they can bring. But we know what our qualities are and we will go there and bring them

Who are the guys in the dressing room that make the new guys aware of the importance of the cup?

Obviously the lads who have been here before and been on cup runs before. When I first signed, Joe [Savage] and Robbie Neilson expressed that importance to me straight away, the club have been in cup finals and won the trophy a lot. It’s important that all the new players who come in understand that’s something we have to get to and try to win trophies. 

Did it mean much more than you might have realised when you walked through the door?

The difference between being here and playing in the lower leagues in England is that down there there’s not much opportunity of winning a cup. But when you come here you know the stature of the club and the opportunities there to get silverware. In your career it’s always something you want to do.

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Is it a career-defining opportunity?

Of course. There are not too many chances for me personally to ever win a trophy in England. It’s something I want to do and have on my CV, definitely.

Is this how great Hearts teams are defined?

I think so, you go down in history at the club if you win a trophy. Everyone remembers the moments when a club wins something so hopefully we can give ourselves that opportunity this year. 

Have you looked back at the teams of the past who have won the cup?

Not really, I’ve seen the odd thing on Twitter and stuff like that.

Does the fact you've done the double over Celtic mean you can go into the quarter-final without any fear?

That's what we've done really well this year, not got caught up in things and taking each game as it comes. When those games come we've done really well in them so it's important to take confidence in them and know when we get to that point hopefully we can do the business. 

Did you hear what Joe Hart was saying to Shankland?

Yeah, I heard that. He was also laughing at me and saying, 'Why are you taking it?' trying to put me off. He was trying to get into your head but we got it done.

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Did it go through your head when you scored to have a word with him?

I just wanted to celebrate the goal so nothing like that came into my mind. Scoring goals is something I have always liked doing so celebrating that was good enough for me.

What was it like facing Joe Hart?

I’d watched him before the game so knew if the opportunity came along what I was going to do in that moment. It's a nice thing to look back on at the end of my career. In the moment it was just trying to score. 

What was your cup record like down south?

I had a couple of cup runs. At Notts County on loan we started out in the first round one season and got to the fifth round, we did well against a couple of Premier League teams but never got to a final other than the play-offs.

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What were the Premier League teams you played?

Liverpool, Everton. Swansea who were in the Prem at the time. We did well in the first game but then lost 8-1 in the replay.

How have you found the season on a personal level as there was a chance you could leave in the summer past?

Naisy was totally honest with me at the start in terms of where he saw me in the team. So I just kept my head down and just get working. Things I thought we going to happen in the summer didn’t happen but I didn’t sulk or anything. I just got my head down, worked hard and as long as I keep doing that and producing in moments for the team then I’m happy. 

How much has the manager grown over the season?

It’s his first proper job so he’s learning on the job and I think he’s done unbelievably well. He’s been great for me, he's been really helpful, he’s growing into it and turning into a top manager.”