Suso would love to stay on at Hearts

SUSO SANTANA savoured the greatest day of his career then insisted he’d love a new contract at Hearts.

The winger’s Jambos career looked to be coming to a close last year when he revealed he was homesick and wanted to go back to Spain to with his family. However, despite been sidelined by injury for most of the season, the little Spaniard justified his inclusion in the Final team with a magnificent display.

Out of contract now, his three-year stint in Edinburgh looks to be over, but he is adamant he would jump at the chance to stay. He said: “This is the best day of my career. This is fantastic, for me, for my family, for my wife, it’s brilliant. It’s been difficult not having my family here so I was very happy for them to be at the match. I don’t know what will happen now. For me I want to stay, but the decision is for the club. I’m happy here.”

Suso was at the centre of the game’s most controversial moment as he was fouled by Pa Kujabi in the incident that saw the Hibs left-back sent off and a penalty awarded to Hearts. The offence, a mixture of shirt-tugging and a slight kick on the bottom of his boot, appeared to occur outside the box even though Suso ended up tumbling theatrically inside the area.

He said: “He touched my foot. Fair enough it may not have been a penalty, but we would still win 4-1.”

Another man who would have been considered an unlikely hero back at the turn of the year was Darren Barr, who was linked with a move away from Hearts in January after finding first-team opportunities hard to come by. However, having established himself as a first-choice holding midfielder, he scored the goal that set Hearts on their way. He revealed that regular chats with his former Falkirk manager Steven Pressley, who had also had a slow start to his time as a Hearts player, had helped keep him going through.

He said: “I spoke to him a few times, he just said keep plugging away and see what happens. Back at the start of the season I couldn’t have imagined scoring in a Scottish Cup final. I have been at Hearts so long and I just wanted to play, and do a job. This is what you dream of.”