Hearts midfielder Cammy Devlin opens up on a week of disappointments: 'I'm shattered at the moment'

A diminutive figure but one with a massive presence, Cammy Devlin is missed when he is not in the Hearts team.

When he is injured or, as was the case last weekend against Rangers, sent packing, there is little that manager Robbie Neilson can do about that but it was the Gorgie gaffer’s choice to leave the energetic midfielder idling on the bench against Fiorentina.

It made for another frustrating match for the Socceroo who is desperate to impress and book his seat on the plane when Australia head for Qatar next month for the World Cup.

As the side lost 4-0 to Rangers, passing up the opportunity to pull level with the Ibrox side on points, Devlin was left kicking himself. The team was already 2-0 down by the time he caught Rabbi Matondo late but his rashness killed off any lingering hopes of a fightback.

Cammy Devlin and Sofyan Amrabat in action during the Europa Conference League match between Hearts and Fiorentina at Tynecastle. Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group

There was some words of consolation, though, as the visiting boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst took a minute to chat to him as he exited the action.

“He just said I don’t need that in my game. At the time I was just so heated and disappointed that I wasn’t fully listening.

“I’ve been told he said I was a good player which obviously is great coming from someone like him. But I let down my team and I’m very disappointed.

“I’m shattered at the moment. It’s something in football I’ve never had to go through, but you’ve got to get over it as quickly as you can. I’m missing football games so I’m gutted.”

Whether punishing the 24-year-old’s lack of judgement in that moment or deciding he simply wasn’t the best option for the middle of the park against Fiorentina, Devlin was left on the sidelines until the second half of Thursday night’s Europa Conference League defeat to the Serie A side.

“Obviously I was disappointed not to start. Everyone who knows my personality [would know that]. If you asked any of the players on the bench they would be gutted not to start.

“That was the gaffer’s decision. If it were up to me then I obviously would’ve thrown myself in there. But you have to respect the gaffer’s decision. I just prepared myself mentally for if or when I’d be called upon. I wanted to make a positive impact. I’m disappointed but it is what it is.”

It was a night when Fiorentina out-played and out-thought their hosts. But they might not have had the time and space to do that so comfortably had Devlin been nipping at their heels, pooping up all over the pitch.

Few are better at that than Devlin, who mixes the roguish Aussie penchant for sledging and wind-up with all the yappy, persistent nuisance and bite of a wee Highland terrier.

“The plan was to get in their face but when you concede after just a couple of minutes then it changes things.

“We wanted to take the game to them. We had a gameplan. But good teams sometimes come out on top, which they did.

“We want to get out of the group but we knew when the draw was made that it was going to be hard. We need to go to Fiorentina and hopefully take something from that game.”

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