Scotland call-up gives Devlin taste for more

Aberdeen defender desperate to play bigger part in Nations League games

Michael Devlin says last week’s small taste of international involvement with Scotland has made him hungry for more.

The Aberdeen defender was drafted in as cover ahead of Sunday’s friendly clash with Portugal after a raft of call-offs.

He was denied the chance to partner Pittodrie team-mate Scott McKenna as Alex McLeish left him to watch the Scots’ 3-1 defeat from the bench.

But the experience was enough to whet Devlin’s appetite and he admits he is now desperate to play a bigger part in next month’s crucial Nations League double-header with Albania and Israel.

The former Hamilton skipper, who only returned to action in the summer after 12 months out with a serious knee injury, told RedTV: “It was a bit of a surprise when I got the call-up.

“You are hoping at some point that you get the opportunity, but I was not expecting it at all.

“Shocked but delighted to be given the chance to join up with the squad.

“I did not get any game time, but a bit of perspective is needed in terms of where I have been at over the past 12 to 18 months.

“Being given the opportunity to get a bit of experience, train and be around the squad was brilliant.

“It is good to see how they operate at that level and it gives you a real incentive to try and get some more of it and be involved again.”

In the meantime, Devlin’s attention will turn to helping Aberdeen kick-start what has been a frustrating campaign so far.

The Dons sit seventh in the Ladbrokes Premiership after eight games but face table-topping Hearts on Saturday ahead of their Betfred Cup semi-final with Rangers at Hampden the following weekend.

“I have never played at Hampden before, so that was another positive for being involved with the Scotland squad,” said Devlin. “It allowed me to be a bit more familiar with the surroundings.

“We trained there on the Saturday and then we had the game on the Sunday. Being involved on a game day at Hampden was good with the semi-final next week in mind.

“There is total belief in what we are trying to do. If you look at our results over the season, we have had two defeats, against Kilmarnock when we played for 86 minutes with 10 men and away to Celtic when we could have got something from the game.

“But I think over the piece we are not a million miles away. We know there are aspects we need to fix and improve on, but we are working very, very hard to try and rectify that as soon as possible.

“We have a couple of really exciting games coming up and they are ones we are hugely looking forward to.”

SNS. Michael Devlin during Scotland training last week after being drafted in to Alex McLeish’s squad for the clash with Portugal.

Devlin’s Dons teammate Scott McKenna played in the game against the European champions.