Claudio Braga netted two minutes into the second-half in Hearts’ last visit to Livingston and he now sits in third place in the William Hill Premiership individual standings with 12 goals so far this term.
That’s one more than team-mate, Lawrence Shankland, but three adrift of Celtic player Benjamin Nygren and four behind Motherwell star Tawanda Maswanhise.
His rise to prominence has not just propelled the 26-year-old into the headlines in Scotland, but he is also attracting media attention in his native country.
Indeed, Claudio Rafael Soares Braga, to give him is full name, has also brought the name of Heart of Midlothian into focus in Portugal.
Looking back, he joined the Tynecastle team in June 2025 from Aalesunds FK in Norway on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee with an enviable record of having finished each of his last three seasons as his club’s top scorer.
Braga learned his trade by graduating through the youth system in Portugal. He moved to Norway in 2022 to sign for third-tire side Moss FK and his 13 goals won them the league and with it promotion to the Norwegian First Division.
Jambos faithful hope Braga’s goals can now land them a craved title North of the Border, and he is enjoying life in Scotland’s Capital.
Braga did, however, nip back to Portugal during the last international break, getting respite from football, seeing family and “getting some sun”, and will be a key man as the Men in Maroon make the short trip to The Home of the Set Fare Arena in Livingston on Sunday when the William Hill Premiership resumes.
It is an artificial pitch but Braga said: “We should not make excuses. Of course, they are used to it. It is not ideal, but it cannot be an excuse. It is a ball, it is 11 v 11.”
He has taken note of recent performances from the Lions and Braga declared: “They have been improving, but every team is dangerous. It just proves how difficult every game is and every team wants to win. We need to make sure we want to win more than the other team.
“If we are not ready now I do not think we will ever be. Everybody is loving the time we are having at Hearts so we are pushing each other to be more demanding on the pitch.”
Hearts are likely to fill three sides of the stadium at Livingston and Braga said: “It is crazy it is happening. We are going to be playing home, basically, and it has been an amazing support and it is impossible to think it is not positive for us because we didn’t lose home.
“If we are going to play in another stadium with 8,000 supporting for us that is good.”
Rival teams have had double-figure numbers away on international duty, Hearts had a small number, but Braga dismissed that saying: “It can be an advantage, but it can be a disadvantage.” If the players traveling for international games come back feeling good then that can be a bonus.
Looking at his team-mates, Braga believes he has built a chemistry with club captain Lawrence Shankland. The Portuguese said that Shankland’s actions speak more than his words and him being there is good for the team. He is calm and you can trust him with the ball.
The pressure is mounting and there can be no slip ups for Derek McInnes and his squad who have 66 points from 31 games and lead the title race by three points from resurgent Rangers and by five from defending champions, Celtic.
Livingston are desperate to remain in the top fight and anchor the 12-strong table with 15 points from their 31 starts, 12 adrift of second-bottom Kilmarnock.
Of course it was Killie who shocked Hearts 1-0 at Rugby Park on March 14, and Braga is well aware that there are only seven games left.
He said: “We know we are in first place and we can’t run away from that. It is only seven games and we look and say it can be possible.”
The external noise outside is rising but Braga argued that the Jambos should not think about where Hearts can be seven games from now.
He said: “We go to Kilmarnock and we play the worst game we ever played and mentality was not on the right moment. We should be good enough and professional enough to think about Livingston and after that game, Motherwell.”
He toes the party line, which the media have heard on a number of occasions this term, one game at a time, but Hearts success has led to talk of the national team.
He said: “We are doing something special, they see all the games. For me it is good that I had no name in Portugal before I came to Hearts. Nobody knew a lot about my name, but now it is different.”
Braga said: “I try to focus, as much as I can, on my game, but it is good to know that the (national) coach knows who you are. If we were not doing as well as a team I would never have been talked (about).”
