Hearts' Cammy Devlin lifts lid on 'weird' season, explains requested positional change and Socceroos snub hurt

Now fully fit, the Australian wants to finish season with a flourish and get back in Australia squad

Back in September, when Hearts midfielder Cammy Devlin signed a new contract until the summer of 2025, life looked good for the amiable Aussie. A regular in the Jambos team and firmly in the thoughts of Socceroos manager Graham Arnold, it was anticipated he would kick on this season. “It’s definitely the best thing I’ve done to date,” Devlin purred on moving across the world to Edinburgh when he signed his latest deal.

Six months later, Devlin was in a pensive and candid mood as he spoke openly with a small group of journalists at Hearts’ Oriam training ground. Since putting pen to paper on September 25, Devlin has only started six matches for his club. He has fallen out of the Australia set-up and from December onwards was sidelined until mid-February with an ankle injury. Only now is the 25-year-old pitching for a starting berth in midfield, overtaken by compatriot Calem Nieuwenhof and fighting with Beni Baningime, Jorge Grant, Scott Fraser, Aidan Denholm and Macauley Tait for a place in the Hearts starting XI. The rest of the campaign is massive for Devlin as he looks to bounce back.

“It has been a weird season for me,” admitted Devlin. “I started the season really good, I was really happy with my performances. I thought I was really good. You get injured and it was worse than I first thought, it was three, three-and-a-half months. Since then the team has been doing unbelievably well so for any player, and I'm no exception to it, you can't expect to come back into the team and start playing. It's my character to work as hard as I possibly can, whether I am playing, whether I'm on the bench, whether I am starting and to make sure when I do play I'm ready to go and that's what I've been doing. I'm so happy to be part of a winning team, winning culture which I think should be the minimum when you are at a club like Hearts. From now until the end of the season I want to play as much as I can and again on Saturday and perform as best as I can.”

Cammy Devlin is desperate to play in as many games as possible between now and the end of the season.

Hearts are 13 points clear in third place in the Premiership with nine matches remaining. A win in Dingwall against Ross County on Saturday will get them closer to the finishing line. In Devlin’s absence, Steven Naismith’s team went on a long winning run to pull clear of the chasing pack. Devlin was left rehabbing in the treatment room, and he is honest enough to say that he is not a good patient.

“I would probably say my worst attribute is when I am injured,” said Devlin. “You have your first couple of days where the world sucks but if you feel sorry for yourself it is only going to work against you because at the end of the day, you are the one that has to make yourself better and come back to be ready to perform. You guys know my character, I just put my head down, work as hard as I can, try to make my gym my best friend even though it might not look like it. Just make sure everything around my ankle [is good], listening to the staff who have been brilliant with me all the way through, I couldn't have asked for rehab to be done any better, to be honest. I am not really good at being injured but I guess it helps on a personal level when they are winning.”

Devlin’s best attribute is the defensive side of the game but he has been challenged by Naismith to become a more rounded midfielder, to contribute further up the pitch. “Naisy has been really good with me,” he explained. “He has put a lot of faith in me and sat me down and told me that my strong attributes he really likes and doesn't want me to change but also sees improvements in me that we have spoken about that he thinks will help me become a better player at the end of the day. I've really appreciated it because it would be easy for him to not do that but he sees something in me.

“I have appreciated the time they [the coaches] have all taken, Frankie [McAvoy], Gordy [Forrest] and Naisy, to sit me down and show me clips. This bit where I win the ball back and start the play but then the next phase of the attack when the ball is moving forward to go and join in and create a little bit, be a bit braver on the ball. That is something I know I have got to improve, there are so many parts of my game I need to improve to get to where I want to be. To be given faith and be told where they want me to improve means they see something in me and it is about putting in the work to make it happen.

Devlin has been asked by manager Steven Naismith to contribute more in the final third of the pitch.

“He [Naismith] hasn't named a player to model your game on. I'm not playing as a No.10. It's more a No.8. You are in between a defensive midfielder and an attacking midfielder. At the same time, I'm just as comfortable paying the defensive midfield role that Beni plays. Naisy is just showing me different little things. When we are training, he will break it and say: 'Cammy, you could maybe move outside here or move there.' It's about watching it back and picking up the information to improve myself as an all-round midfielder.”

It may come as a surprise to learn that Devlin was, once upon a time, a forward. “I was a striker when I was younger but that only lasted a few games, as you can probably see,” he smiled. “I think it's pretty clear I'm not the best goalscorer. I like tackling too much as well. That's two pretty important things.”

Representing his country is also very important to Devlin. There was a famous clip of the midfielder on the phone to Arnold when he was picked for the 2022 World Cup, choking up with emotion when the news was broke to him of his involvement. The Socceroos boss loves his energy and enthusiasm but has not selected the Hearts man for a year now. Australia have a double-header against Lebanon later this month but Devlin will be in Edinburgh, ploughing on with his club training.

“I was gutted but at the same time I wasn't sure on this one,” Devlin said of his latest snub. “I'd been out for so long, came back and wasn't starting every game. I didn't expect to because of the run the boys were on. Getting in the Socceroos, if you start expecting it then it's probably a really bad thing to be comfortable with. Every time I get that call-up, it's the best day of my life. You are representing your country and more often than not you are going home to see your family as well.

Devlin has not been selected by Australia for a year now and is keen to be back in the Socceroos fold.

“It's up to me from now until the end of the season to play my best and hopefully get in the camp in the summer. There are World Cup qualifiers in June so that's the goal. You set your long-term goals but at the same time, when you come back from injury, I just want to get back in the team and play as many games as possible. I believe that if I play to the best of my ability then I will hopefully be in Arnie's thoughts to be in that final squad.”