Exclusive: Jorge Grant opens up on the fight to save his Hearts career

Midfielder's desire is helping him play his way into the team

With the neat touches, delicate style and occasional fancy flicks, Jorge Grant might give the impression of a luxury footballer. You know, the type lacking guts for the more uncompromising confrontations. In reality, he is anything but. Scratch the surface and Grant harbours and abundance of desire and fight - qualities which probably saved his Hearts career.

The English midfielder was told by head coach Steven Naismith during the summer that first-team opportunities would be limited in future. Clubs south of the border tried to sign him and a move was close until discussions collapsed. That left Grant in Edinburgh with two years remaining on a three-year contract. His partner and young son had to abandon plans for a permanent move north to join him as he pondered what the future may hold.

Faced with the awkward situation of starting the campaign as a fringe player, the 28-year-old began a fight which is still ongoing right now. He has worked every day to convince the Riccarton management team that he can contribute. A goal in the Viaplay Cup quarter-final against Kilmarnock and an assist for Kenneth Vargas' winner against Livingston showcased some of his capabilities.

Gradually, Grant is winning his battle. He has started five of Hearts' last nine matches and played 81 minutes of Saturday's win against St Johnstone. Speaking exclusively to the Edinburgh News, he revealed why he simply refused to admit defeat.

"I'm not going to be someone who just gives up when they are told they aren't going to play," he said. "I want to play football so, in training, I've got to show the manager that I'm ready to play when he wants me to play. I feel like I've done that.

"He hasn't said anything about whether I will play more. He comes and speaks to me every now and again to see how I am. Obviously, he knows what he said in the summer. It's just one of those things. As long as I'm doing as well as I can on the training pitch and proving that I deserve to play when I get the opportunity, then hopefully I will play games."

Mental self-belief is clearly a big part of Grant's make-up. "Sometimes you go through little stages where maybe you are not performing. Maybe last season I wasn't as effective as I possibly could be," he admitted. "Playing in the Kilmarnock game and scoring, then coming on against Livingston and getting the assist for Kenny, I feel that I will bring that with [more] games. Especially when I'm higher up the pitch.

"We are playing with the two No.8s at the moment. I just try and get on with it, to be honest. I keep my head down and do what I can for the team. The gaffer told me on Friday that I was going to play against St Johnstone. He said I had been consistent in training and when I had come on the pitch over the last six weeks. Every time I get the opportunity to start, I want to do well, help the team and be part of a win."

He did just that on Saturday. The narrow 1-0 victory gives Hearts three successive league victories and bodes well for a hectic schedule of matches ahead. "I feel we are building a bit of momentum and we did speak about that before the game. We spoke all season about getting consistency. It wasn't pretty at times on Saturday but we did what needed to be done, so that's a good thing," said Grant.

"We started well and put St Johnstone under pressure for 15 or 20 minutes, but the last bit we didn't get. It would probably have made the game easier had we scored in that early period. We are definitely improving, doing the right things, doing what the manager tells us and winning games."

Ultimately, he believes he can establish a place in Hearts' starting line-up for most games. There is an abundance of midfielders in Naismith's squad - highlighted by Andy Halliday not even making the substitutes' bench on Saturday - and many of them will be needed with eight games to play until the winter break. Grant is confident of gaining more game time.

"Yeah, I feel I can do that. As a player, even just on Saturday, I feel there were so many moments where I could have done better," he said. "That comes with playing games and being on the pitch as often as possible. I feel I did my job as best I could. Hopefully, the more games I play, the more I can show. As a squad, we know we are going to need everyone and everyone has got to contribute when they come in. When I get the chance, that's what I want to do."

Off the field, the family situation is still up in the air. Pre-season news that his game time would be restricted forced Grant and his loved ones into a rethink. "Yeah, so that kind of flipped that around. My family are just up here more now," explained the player. "We just got a different place and they are up more than they usually would be. That's obviously different for my missus because she is doing less work at home and stuff like that.

"She has dealt with it really well. She's got a lot of people around her who help her out as well. You move about in football and I think we dealt with it well. That was probably the reason they didn't come up because things change so quickly. I didn't know where I was going to be."

He knows where he is right now: Fighting for position in a competitive Hearts midfield and making progress every day. And he isn't finished yet.