CITY SHOWDOWN WAS EYE-OPENER FOR AUSTRALIAN

AN Australian arrives in Scotland in the summer of 2021 to very little fanfare, but takes to it like a duck to water. For Ange Postecoglou at Celtic, read Cammy Devlin at Hearts. The tough-tackling midfielder has been a revelation since moving to Tynecastle 12 months ago. Set alongside some of the six-foot-plus monsters who will fight it out in tomorrow’s Edinburgh derby at Easter Road, Devlin might appear to be a kitten among lions at first glance. But what the diminutive 24-year-old (pictured right) lacks in stature, he more than makes up for with the ferocity of his bite — as Hibernian have already discovered to their cost. Devlin’s tigerish performances in last season’s derby games endeared him to Hearts supporters. For someone who describes himself as ‘just a normal Aussie bloke’, he admits it was initially an eye-opener to witness a fixture where the action whizzes past at 100mph.

Now embarking on his second season in Gorgie, he’s long enough in the job to know these are games unlike any other. ‘Last season it was all new to me,’ he said. ‘You don’t really get that build-up and that extra meaning of a derby back home like you do in Edinburgh. ‘When you meet the fans, you see what it means to them. ‘The derbies suit my style. I try to fight for everything, give 100 per cent and do all I can to get the result for the fans. ‘When my mum and dad came over and were here for one of the derbies, they couldn’t believe how loud it was with the crowd and atmosphere. ‘It’s a hundred miles an hour. But if you do get a stoppage in play, you have a look around and think, “How cool is this — especially if you’re winning. If you’re losing, not so much. ‘At the end of the season, when I went home to Australia, I was able to see photos and look back and reflect and think it’s really cool what I have done here.

‘I just want to come back and do better this season, not only as an individual but as a team as well. ‘Back home, no one knows who you are. ‘If you are in the city, you are a normal Aussie bloke. Coming over here, I still see myself as that. ‘But here, you get fans coming up to you if you’re out. ‘They are not shy telling you about the meaning of this game and not only this game, but what Hearts means to them growing up. They are season-ticket holders and their dads were season-ticket holders, so I do get the meaning of it. ‘That, to me as a person, is super cool to see. It does open your eyes. ‘You are not just here playing a game you are here playing a game because it means something to people. As players, we do love that.’