The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Devlin’s up for the cup after a taste of Hampden
Defender also believes Dons are ready for big push in league
Aberdeen defender Mikey Devlin plans to put his first Hampden experience to good use on his return to the National Stadium in the Betfred Cup semi-final next weekend.
The Dons man earned a late call-up to Alex McLeish’s Scotland squad at the weekend and his selection gave him the chance to experience Hampden for the first time as a player.
It’s an experience he was glad to have ahead of his side’s semi-final against Rangers next Sunday.
Devlin said: “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.”
Before Devlin can focus on reaching the final he is firmly fixated on Saturday’s trip to Edinburgh to face Premiership leaders Hearts. Craig Levein’s side are seven points clear of the Dons after an excellent start but Devlin believes the return of several firstteam players ensure Derek McInnes’s men head south in confident mood.
He said: “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.
“There have also been a couple of draws we would not have wanted, 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 to rectify that as soon as possible.
“We have got a few more boys back from injury and now it looks a really good competitive squad. The Irish FA has invoked Fifa’s five-day rule, which will prevent Kyle Lafferty playing for Rangers against Hamilton on Sunday.
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill said the Gers striker had cited an Achilles injury when
“There is a real depth to the squad as we still have a couple more to return.”
One of the players coming back is on-loan Manchester United striker James Wilson.
Devlin believes the forward’s availability is crucial.
He said: “Since the victory over Hibs in the cup I feel performance levels have increased.
“We have been getting glimpses, more and more of what we are capable of.
“James Wilson for example; when he has come in, he has shown his quality and is a really exciting prospect for us.
“It gives us great belief and confidence going into the big games coming up.
“If you want to be a player who is successful with a big club, you need to thrive in the big games and go and try to win them, that is what is expected here.
“We are all delighted to be part of that and we are all pushing in the same direction to try to bring some success here.” he withdrew from the squad at the last minute ahead of crunch Nations League games away to Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Irish FA has released a statement confirming it will block Lafferty’s participation in the Scottish Premiership match against Martin Canning’s ninthplaced Accies.
The statement read: “The Irish FA has written to Rangers FC regarding Kyle Lafferty who was selected in the Northern Ireland squad for the Uefa Nations League matches against Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina on October 12 and 15 respectively.
“As the player did not comply with the association’s call up, the player is in breach and as a result, the association is invoking the Fifa regulation (Fifa regulations for the status and transfer of players, annexe 1, section 5).
“This states that ‘the player is not entitled to play for the club with which he is registered during the period for which he has been released or should have been released pursuant to the provisions of this annexe.
“This restriction on playing for the club shall, moreover, be prolonged by five days in the event that the player, for whatsoever reason, did not wish to or was unable to comply with the call-up’.”