Jorge Grant came off the bench at half-time and played a pivotal role as Heart of Midlothian defeated Livingston 1-0 at Tynecastle Park on Wednesday evening, providing the assist for Kenneth Vargas to score.

He spoke to the press about coming on as a substitution, what Steven Naismith said to him, Vargas and the upcoming Viaplay Cup semi-final with Rangers.

Read everything he said below.

How do you prepare to come on when you know they are sitting low and frustrating?

Yeah, obviously we sort of knew with our shape that we’d be able to push them back, it was about being patient tonight. We created enough chances to be scoring earlier than that but obviously Kenny lurking at the back sticking my ball across. Just delighted to get the three points.

You don't always get that patience from the crowd here but does that say something about the display that they stuck with the team all the way through?

I think, obviously, it’s tough when a team does sit in like that. You have to work the ball side to side and sometimes that’s not enjoyable to watch. But it’s about making those spaces behind for the goal, and I felt we did that well tonight. 

READ MORE: Kenneth Vargas: How he won Hearts admiration, liberating goal, Thor, loan deal

Kenny got the goal but it was all about the cross...

“If you say so! I knew if I could get out of my feet and get it across the box hopefully someone’s there. It’s a good ball but he’s got to be there to score it. 

How big was the goal for him and within the group as well because every seemed to be delighted? 

He’s obviously a great lad. After coming across [from Costa Rica], obviously being far from his family and stuff like that, it can be hard He’s a really nice lad and we’re all delighted he's got his first one

What’s he like around the squad?

His English is actually alright! He loves talking about Fifa which get the boys going so he fits in really well with us. 

You are looking for big characters, big performances this weekend, how important was beating Livingston in respect to this weekend?

We played them last weekend, we know sort of what they're about. We had a good first half, up until about 60 minutes and then they started to get on top of us so we know what they’re about. Obviously it was important to get the win off the back of losing the way we did on Sunday, so obviously that gives us confidence going into the weekend. 

READ MORE: 5 Hearts answers to Livingston's yellow wall: patience, width, subs, runners, key man

It is a very different type of game you will face at the weekend - how much confidence does the win give you? 

It’s a one-off game - it’s a semi-final. It’s split with the fans especially as well so it’s going to be a big game for us and we all know what it means to the club so we will all be giving it 100%.

What message did Steven Naismith give you at half-time? 

He just spoke to me about being quite high. Being in the space between the midfield and the defence and making runs in behind like I did for the cross so it was important that our two higher midfielders were pushing their midfielders back, which gave us time to switch the play and get behind them when we could. He just gave me little tips of where I could get into space and obviously it worked for us. 

You started at Ibrox, came off the bench against Livingston, what would it mean to start at Hampden? 

Obviously it’s a great stadium and something I really want to do to start the game but that’s down to the gaffer. But obviously I’d love to start. 

You scored in quarters, another one in the semi-final...

That would be nice - if I can pop up with a goal which helps us win the game then that’s something I’d love to do.

Will you be reminding the manager of that this week?

I won’t be saying anything, no no!