Why Jorge Grant took Hearts' penalty against Aberdeen - plus Lawrence Shankland's feelings

The spot-kick proved to be a catalyst for Saturday's result in Gorgie

Jorge Grant showed admirable composure converting Hearts' penalty against Aberdeen in Saturday's 2-0 win against Aberdeen. Not only was he given responsibility to break the deadlock in a tense Premiership encounter, he was also stepping in for a master goalscoring craftsman.

Lawrence Shankland is Hearts' designated penalty taker but, having not scored any of his previous three, he passed the opportunity to Grant. The English midfielder struck a confident spot-kick high beyond the Aberdeen goalkeeper Kelle Roos to make it 1-0 on 57 minutes. Shankland then produced a sumptuous second goal to secure the result.

"There was a lot of time between the VAR and waiting to take the penalty. I felt good," explained Grant before giving details on his conversations with Shankland. "We spoke about it in the changing room before. We then had a little chat on the pitch as well. Obviously, he has scored so many penalties for us but at the moment it is just not happening for him, so I can take that pressure off him and he gets his goal anyway."

Grant studied Roos in the build-up to the match before deciding to shoot high to the keeper's left, but insisted he did not harass Shankland for penalty duties. The midfielder explained Shankland's feelings on the subject. "Nah, I haven't [been in his ear]. I think he said it would be selfish of him to take another penalty. It's about the team and that just shows the type of character he is," said Grant.

"I watched the keeper before the game to see where he was diving and he's been diving that way a lot. I watched the keeper and I was always going to go that way."

Hearts have yet to receive a transfer offer for Shankland as the January window prepares to close on Thursday night. The Riccarton dressing room certainly don't want to lose their captain, who claimed his 20th goal in all competitions against Aberdeen with one exquisite flick of the outside of his right boot.

"That's totally Lawrence's decision but we all want him to be here," said Grant on his team-mate's future. "That split-second finish is actually a joke. I just went 'oh wow'. I was stood right next to him. He has got that quality so we want him to be here."

Grant was shaping to shoot himself on the edge of the Aberdeen penalty area, although he had no qualms being nudged out of the way by Shankland. "I said to him in the changing room after that he actually pushed me out of the way because I wanted to shoot as well. That's what he is about. It's a quality finish."

Regardless what the future holds for Shankland, Grant is more than happy to continue with penalty duties. "I put myself forward straight away to take penalties. I took them down in England. I felt confident then and I still feel confident in myself to take them," he said.

The 29-year-old believes he is playing some of his best football after a minor injury against Celtic in December. "I feel like that but I feel that there are loads of aspects I still need to work on. That comes with games," he explained. "The manager has put his trust in me throughout December as well. I had my little knock but to come straight back in and play games is good for me. That's what I want to do, I want to play.

"I was probably lucky in that there was a small amount of games in a short period and then we had the break so it gave me more chance to recover quickly [from injury]. I felt like I started to get a run in the team. I got caught in the first five minutes of that Celtic game. I just wanted to do what I could for the team and stay on. Since the break, I've started two out of the three so it's all good."

Saturday's win propelled Hearts 10 points clear in third place. They will be difficult to catch, although no-one at Tynecastle is assuming anything. "It is hard to say because there are still a lot of games to go. I feel like we just need to take it game by game. If we start looking ahead and taking our eye off the ball that's going to be a problem," said Grant.