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The Republic of Ireland international became the second-ever player to sign pro terms with the Jam Tarts when she joined from Rangers last summer. Since then, the 29-year-old has become one of the key players for Eva Olid’s team, bossing the midfield, as they sit fourth in the SWPL. This has helped to guaranteed their best-ever finish in the division now the league has split, with sixth being the lowest possible place they can finish. Looking back to when she signed, Grant never expected the club to be doing so well.

“Definitely not”, she told the Edinburgh Evening News. “I spoke to Eva [Olid] when I was signing and top six was our goal and now we are sitting comfortably in fourth. It’s a nice place to be because the top three are kind of out of our reach for now. Anything we get off them is a bonus. It’s a good mindset to have, we are just going to try and keep developing over the next few months and bring that into next season.”

Hearts are now 11 points clear of rivals Hibs after their 1-0 victory away to Partick Thistle last weekend with both clubs set to play each other again twice before the season is out. The next derby coming in less than three weeks with it currently being scheduled for April 16th with Dean Gibson’s side set to host the fixture. Hearts assistant manager Sean Burt is pleased about the progress that is being made on the pitch as they aim to finish the season strongly.

Ciara Grant has become a set-piece specialist for Hearts this season. Credit: Malcolm Mackenzie

“We are 11 points clear but the job is not done yet”, Burt added. “At the end of the day we have still got Hibs to play twice, still got Partick and then obviously all of the top three you play twice. The job is not done, we just want to focus on ourselves and take it game by game and ultimately, [the Partick result] is just another three points on the board.”

Hearts star Ciara Grant surprised by Hearts progression this season