Stephen Kingsley: Hearts hunger, Rangers aim, assist bonus

The defender discussed the semi-final draw with Rangers, the team's position in third and whether or not he has an assist bonus in his contract.

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What did you make of the game?

I felt we had control in the game. We knew Morton would carry a threat when they put balls into the box and they have a lad with a really long throw. They are aggressive. It was always going to be a tough game for us and the longer it went on, it did get a bit nervy. But we believed that if we continued doing what we are good at then we would eventually find a way through. It took a bit longer than we hoped. We missed a few chances and could have made it a lot more comfortable for ourselves. But we got there in the end and that’s the main thing. Patience and composure are always important when you go to places like Cappielow. You know it’s going to be a fight and a battle. Fair play to Morton, they made it tough for us.

Rangers next up, those are the kind of games you want?

It’s our second one this season and these are the games you want. We are delighted to be there and it’s a great challenge for everyone. I can speak for everyone and say we are all looking forward to it. We absolutely want to do better against Rangers than we have, 100 percent. It reflects on us as players. We didn’t give the best account of ourselves the last time we played Rangers at Hampden, so we have that inspiration of getting to the final which is the goal for us.

You’ve been at Hampden a lot over the last few years, are you desperate to get silverware?

I’ve been at Hampden God knows how many times, so I’m hoping we can give our best this time. The last time was definitely disappointing. I don’t think we were at it. We’ve had a couple of tough results against Rangers. It’s going to be a big occasion for us so we’ll make sure we are ready for it. It’s my fourth year with Hearts and the previous experiences at Hampden can help. It also just makes you hungrier to go that one step further.

What are the key things you need to do better if you are to beat them?

We just need to believe we can put on the performance we are capable of against them. I feel we’ve been guilty of not giving a great account of ourselves the last couple of times. The manager talks about small margins and we’ve been on the wrong end of them. We’ve not quite been at the levels we should be. Against teams like them, you are going to get punished. So it’s really about taking the belief we have built up over the latter part of this season and putting on a performance we can be proud of. We need to give ourselves the chance to get a foothold in the game and go on to get a positive result. It’s a great occasion for the club and fans. We have to make them proud.

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Have you got an assist bonus in your contract?

I don’t know - but I could have got about six against Morton if Aidan and Beni had their shooting boots on! It was good we were creating those chances. As I said, it does get nervy the longer it goes at 0-0 but on a tough pitch, as long as you keep doing the things you are good at you hope you are going to take one of those chances. I’m a bit disappointed I didn’t get a couple of assists but we got the win and that’s the main thing.

It is key to keep the season ticking over with that win because third is all but sewn up?

We are in a great position in the league. I’m not an idiot - we are 13 points clear of fourth place and people will be thinking we are out on our own. But as players, we can never think like that. If you start thinking like that, you are setting yourself up for a big fall. We’ve got Ross County away on Saturday which is going to be a tough fixture. We always get tough games up there. We need to win that and move on to the next one. And what a carrot we’ve now got to look forward to in a few weeks at Hampden.