Cammy Devlin has proved he can perform on the European stage. But now the Hearts midfielder wants to show the WORLD what he can do.
The little Aussie was outstanding for Robbie Neilson’s side in Thursday night’s 1-0 Europa League play-off defeat to FC Zurich. Before his team-mate Jorge Grant was sent off, Devlin had run the game at Tynecastle against the Swiss champions. It was arguably the 24-year-old’s best game in a maroon shirt since joining from Newcastle Jets last season.
Despite being knocked out, Devlin is excited at the prospect of strutting his stuff in the Europa Conference League against Serie A giants Fiorentina, Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir and FK RFS of Latvia. But his ambitions are even bigger than that. With the World Cup in Qatar just months away, he’s desperate to play his way into Graham Arnold’s Australia squad.
Devlin has been capped at youth level with the Socceroos but is yet to win a full cap. And he hopes that playing in Europe for Hearts alongside Socceroos stars Kye Rowles and Nathaniel Atkinson will boost his chances of making it to Qatar.
Devlin said: “Everyone knows what’s coming up in November. I haven’t been involved in a Socceroos camp yet.
“But I’m desperate to be involved and trying to show it every day, to the fans and the national team coach.
“Hopefully if I do well enough he’ll pick me and the group stages of European football is a big platform.
“If I do well in that, you never know. For all the Australian players around the world, there are around 26 spots to get to the World Cup.
“They will be watching every player. We have three Aussies in the Hearts team, two who played in the qualifier to get us to Qatar.
“I just have to keep performing, get my head down and hopefully things go in my favour. There are lots of big games ahead. If I don’t perform for Hearts I’ll have no chance of being in a squad. But if I keep doing well I might put my name in the hat.”
When Devlin arrived in Scotland, he didn’t expect to be dictating games at Europa League level. But he’s thriving at Tynecastle and is a key player in Neilson’s engine room.
After his man-of-the-match display against Zurich, he’s determined to maintain the high standard he’s set. He said: “If you don’t back yourself, you probably won’t get where you want to be. So I back myself to control games.
“I don’t want to be the sort of player who people think: ‘Oh, it’s a European game, he went hiding’. I want to be the sort of player that people look at and say: ‘Wow, he can step up’.
“It’s a big challenge to play in these games. I’ve not experienced anything like playing in Europe before but I felt I did OK both times against Zurich.
“It feels kind of crazy that I’m playing on the European stage. A year ago I was at home with my family playing in the A-League.
“When I came over to Hearts I didn’t have a thought about playing European football. So to be at Tynecastle in a European tie with a packed crowd – probably the loudest I’ve experienced – it was surreal on Thursday night.”
Hearts were left to rue missed chances and Grant’s red card in midweek, which put paid to their Europa League hopes. But with at least three more big European nights to look forward to in Gorgie, Devlin believes everyone should feel pride.
As he prepared for their return to league action against St Johnstone, he said: “Hearts were in the Championship two seasons ago. Now we’re disappointed not to be in the Europa League groups.
“For a lot of fans, players and staff who were here at the time – they would have taken that back then. The club have grown leaps and bounds and I’m just grateful to be part of it.”
READ NEXT
