Hearts won 2-0 at Motherwell last night and midfielder Laryea Kingston was delighted with his contribution. And rightly so as he set up both goals as Hearts kept their hopes of finishing second in the SPL alive. Hearts are now level on points with Aberdeen and just seven behind second-placed Rangers as they all fight for Champions League qualification. The Ghana international's 37th-minute corner was gratefully headed home by Ibrahim Tall. The second goal came via a near-post cross which was headed home by Motherwell's Stephen Craigan midway through the second half. Just to prove he was not neglecting his defensive duties, Kingston also cleared a David Clarkson header off the line as Motherwell pushed to get something out of the game in the second half.

Kingston said: "This is why they put me there. I'm very happy that I apply my crossing and free-kicks and the corner kicks and it works. So I'm very happy with my performance. All my team-mates have confidence in me. At set-pieces they see I have that potential and that's very good for me. It was very important to grab the three points. We are aiming to be second if possible. We are looking to win every game that we play. We are hoping Rangers lose a couple of games and that will help us to get second place. For now, we are aiming to overtake Aberdeen."

Kingstonhas been unperturbed by ongoing absence of manager Valdas Ivanauskas, who is officially away on "football business" on Hearts behalf. The Lithuanian has been replaced by head coach Anatoly Korobochka in the meantime, while assistant Stephen Frail has assumed greater responsibility on the training ground. Kingston said: "Everything is the same, everything is normal. All the players respect each other. All the trainers are respected. There is no difference between Valdas and the person coming in."