Jorge Grant sends Hearts contract message as he opens up on life in Scotland’s capital

Jorge Grant says he is ready to sit down with Hearts bosses to discuss a new contract at Tynecastle - but insists the ball is in the club's court.

The 30-year-old, who has enjoyed a decent season so far with four goals and six assists in 30 matches, is into the final two months of his current deal in Gorgie. His latest goal came from the penalty spot last Saturday, giving Steven Naismith's men an early advantage in their 2-1 away win against St Mirren that has all but clinched that coveted third spot in the Premiership.

The Englishman is now settled in the capital, with his partner and young son Frankie now by his side. The couple are set to welcome another child into the family, with Grant's partner due to give birth next summer. The former Peterborough man says he is open to extending his stay in Gorgie if the club still want him to stick around.

Speaking to the Edinburgh Evening News, he said: "That's up to the club really. I am happy here and if they ever want to talk about that I am totally open to that. I really enjoy it here, the family have moved up and they are enjoying it here, I can only concentrate on my football and hopefully that comes in the future.

“My family are up. A lot of people have been visiting a bit more over the last six months. It's a lot better. It's been tough without them and my missus is pregnant again so it was important she was up here with me. It's important she is with us and I can help her out with the little man as well. It's nice to have that normal life when you are finished training. It’s back to normal, really.

“As I said in my first year, I wanted to be playing a little bit more but that is normal for any footballer when they are not playing. Everyone wants to be on the pitch and the start of the season started a bit slow for me. Over the last two or three months I have gotten a lot of minutes under my belt and shown I can produce in moments and there is still a lot more to come from me."

The Nottingham Forest academy graduate joked that he has been made to feel old by the emergence of young stars Macaulay Tait and Aidan Denholm in the Hearts engine room. Grant added: "I am sort of one of the older ones, I don't like to say it! I feel that responsibility is on me when I am playing. Lots of talking, helping out the younger lads on the pitch and especially off it. Trying to help where I can is important.

“When I was at Lincoln City I was vice-captain and that was quite a young squad, but more in front of me. The actual midfield was similar age to what I was at the time so I feel I have always been a talker on the pitch anyway. Not a massive shouter, but talking on the pitch to help each other is important."

Saturday's clash with St Mirren in Paisley was made even harder by the testing conditions caused by Storm Kathleen and Grant says he was delighted that the Jambos managed to come away with all three points. "Conditions were tough", he stated. "Because it's such a small stadium you feel that wind really strong with us second half and against us first half, but I felt we dealt with it well.

"I think definitely first half was different as when they went long we could sort of let it go through whereas second half was more about winning those first and second balls. You have to adapt to the conditions but you still have to play your stuff which I felt we did at times. We could have been a bit more comfortable if we played it more on the floor but it was just the way the conditions were."