Kenneth Vargas backed to become Hearts star as Steven Naismith hails 'biggest thing' from Livingston win

Hearts boss Steven Naismith praised matchwinner Kenneth Vargas after the Costa Rican striker opened his account and gave the home side the lift they were looking for ahead of this weekend’s trip to Hampden.

Hearts' Kenneth Vargas is all smiles at full time after his goal earned a 1-0 win over Livingston. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group)

On a night when patience was key, it was fitting that the 21-year-old substitute, who signed for the club at the start of the season but had to wait for his first league goal, was the one who sealed the victory. And, it earned him the gratitude of his gaffer.

“I said during the week he’s been unfortunate [not to score yet]. He’s a guy who we’ve relied on more than we should have for a young player and he’s done a lot of hard graft without reward. He’s a real talent with loads of quality.

“Everyone is buzzing because he scored but he also wins a header in the 95th minute when we are defending a corner. He’s a top player. He will be a top player and he got his rewards for being patient. I’m very pleased for him. It was a deserved winner.”

The win was the important thing after three games without a triumph.

“The biggest and most pleasing thing for me is the patience we showed,” added Naismith. “I’ve been here many a time when it gets desperate and you’re firing long balls in and shooting from 40 yards. But there was real control. We were unfortunate not to go in a goal or two up and that can lead to players being desperate or making the wrong choice but we continued to create chances and we got our rewards.

”I was quite confident the way the game was going, they were getting deeper and more spaces were happening. Our fresher players came on and produced.

“It was an important win not just for the weekend but for the demands of the club. If you draw at home it’s not going to be good enough in a lot of matches. It’s been a good week in terms of the majority of the performance at Rangers, and tonight’s performance and win gives us a good bounce for Sunday which will be an important game but one we are confident about.”

While there was disappointment for Livingston manager David Martindale he insisted that the speculation surrounding a possible move to St Johnstone had not been disruptive in the build up.

The club issued a statement revealing the Perth club had been denied permission to talk with Martindale, who said he had no issue with their decision.

“The club statement was the club statement. I must have been in there [with the board] for three minutes and I said: ‘Do you want to keep me at the club or do you want me to speak to St Johnstone? They said they wanted to keep me at the club so I said: ‘Perfect’. Then I went back in and took training – the players were probably devastated that I stayed!

“I’ve said before the day I leave Livingston won’t be my decision. It will be Livingston’s decision whether that’s through a negative or a positive. Livingston changed my life by giving me this opportunity and I will never forget that.”