Scottish Premiership victory topped a momentous few days for the Greek winger

Life has changed dramatically for Alexandros Kyziridis since arriving in Edinburgh from Slovakia in June. He is now a father to a new baby boy, and an integral part of a Hearts team eight points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership. Family adds extra responsibility while his career touches new heights. The Greek winger seems to thrive on it all.

He scored a fine individual goal in Sunday’s 3-1 victory over Celtic at a deafening Tynecastle Park and, away from the noise, is busy settling into fatherhood. He won’t talk about any potential title challenge from his new club, instead preferring the more professional approach of looking only at the next game. For Hearts, that’s St Mirren in Paisley on Wednesday.

“Amazing. That's the feeling,” said Kyziridis when asked about the emotions of Sunday’s victory. “But just for now. We need to be focused for Wednesday’s game. I don't want to talk about that [title challenge]. It was just a game. There are so many games left so we just need to be focused. Every game, game by game.

“It was a hard week, to be honest. But it was by far the best week of my life. As I posted also on Wednesday, on the 23rd, my son arrived already. Yeah, I'm so happy. I can't imagine. To be honest, it was hard for me preparing for football, but I need to get used to it. At the end of the day, it’s all good. I sleep well, thanks to my wife. She was looking after him so I could sleep, and I sleep well. Thanks to her.”

Little Charalambos won’t know it yet but he is already eligible to play for Scotland when he grows up. And Greece. “We'll see. Maybe, yes, maybe not. No one knows,” said Kyziridis. The player harbours ambitions to represent his country but, for now, there is enough going on at Hearts. He has five goals and five assists from 12 outings in maroon and is already a favourite among supporters.

“For me, every goal is important,” he stated. “It doesn't matter if you play against Celtic or against Kilmarnock or against St Mirren. It doesn't matter. It's the same feeling that I will take if I score a goal against Celtic, and the same feeling if I score against Kilmarnock. The most important for me is to try to help the team. Even if it's a goal or assist, even sometimes I need to run more or to defend more. This is my job, and this is what I want to do.”

Hearts head coach Derek McInnes granted Kyziridis licence to attack with his own brand of wing-wizardry. There is a demand to defend when his team are out of possession and Kyziridis looks a willing learner in that regard. There is no doubt his strength lies in the final third, where he can run opponents ragged at times. “For me, he [McInnes] has always said to do my stuff. That's what my game is about. This is what I'm always trying to do when I have space. You know what I'm able to do.

“There is no pressure [on Hearts]. We are enjoying it. We have to continue like this. That's all. I'm happy about the fans [chanting his name]. Even if they don't sing it, I think my confidence is good enough.” The 25-year-old acknowledged that this is one of the best periods of his career. “I would say yes. But also last season was good for me.” Again, there is a cautious tone not to get carried away with only nine league games played so far this season.

“For us, it's important to see game-by-game. We don't want to see what will happen in the future. No-one knows. We just need to be humble and do our job. This is what we all do. The dream is when you are sleeping.” There isn’t much of that in the Kyziridis household right now, although no-one is complaining. Nor is Kyziridis moaning about his fat lip. He took an elbow from a Celtic player during Sunday’s frantic fixture but won’t make a big deal of it. “I got an elbow, yeah. It's part of the game. It was bleeding a lot. Now I look ugly, but it's fine,” he laughed.

Kyziridis openly admits he is targeting a call-up to the Greek national team after excelling with Hearts. Next month’s World Cup qualifier against Scotland is on his mind. “Yeah, it's one of my targets. For sure. It's an honour to play for your national team. What can I say about that? I'm waiting. If they need me, I will be there. And I know that we play against Scotland. That would be amazing. But no-one knows. Only the manager. I'm here. If they need me, I will go for sure.”