Hearts manager Paulo Sergio was relieved to see his team make it through to the 5th round of the William Hill Scottish Cup after a 1-0 victory against Auchinleck Talbot at Tynecastle.

The Junior side made the Jambos work for their victory, with Gordon Smith's solitary goal coming in the 84th minute after a defensive mix-up, and although it wasn't the goal-fest some had anticipated, the gaffer was pleased to see the team progress in the competition.

Paulo said: "It was a typical cup game. When you play against a smaller team, if you score earlier you can win by more. We were not efficient enough and because of this, the opposition started to believe. It brought them together and they were more determined the longer the game went on. If you want to talk about the game, I felt it was Hearts trying for 90 minutes to score."

While there was frustration building in the stands, Paulo confirmed that he was always confident the first goal would come, something which he was happy to emphasize further, saying: "I am always positive. I felt we were good enough. I know the rules of the competition, you lose a goal and you are out but we had to keep our feet on the ground and focus. We took some risks but I felt they were worth taking."

Paulo also reserved words of praise for opponents Auchinleck who pushed Hearts all the way, saying they carried out their plan well: "I must congratulate our opponents. We had more trouble with them than other teams recently. They came with a plan and that almost worked."

The game saw the debuts of two youth team prodigies in the shape of Fraser Mullen and Jordan Morton, and despite a missed penalty from right-back Mullen, Paulo singled out the youngster for praise: "Although not everything worked today, this is the future of Hearts. There were some nervous moments but I have not lost my belief in them."

Paulo continued: "I thought Fraser was man of the match. I didn't tell him to take the penalty, I was screaming to Scott Robinson, but the kid took the ball. I like this, he showed guts. The kid showed courage to take the ball, I like this. It meant a lot to me. A missed penalty will not influence my analysis, I thought he did a great job and played like a veteran."

Finally, Paulo confirmed that the injuries which caused Danny Grainger and Darren Barr to leave the field early were not serious, and would be assessed further in 24 hours time.

Today on HeartsTV - post-match reaction from Paulo Sergio and Gordon Smith.