Devlin says Hearts have ‘no reason to be daunted’ by trip to Rangers
It was good while it lasted and even if Rangers wrestled back top spot in the Premiership 24 hours later, Hearts’ fleeting spell at the summit vindicated the work being put in by Robbie Neilson and his men.
Full of confidence as they extended their unbeaten start to league business to eight games thanks to the 2-0 victory over Motherwell, they will head to Ibrox on the other side of the international break, well aware that swiftly regaining control remains, very much, in their own hands.
“As soon as one game finishes, you look to the next one. So we’ll have a couple of days off next weekend, then we go to Ibrox – which might be the biggest challenge of the year so far,” said one of the club’s new signings, Cammy Devlin, who is already shaping up to be a talismanic operator in the middle of the park, where he keeps everything ticking over alongside the equally-influential Beni Baningime.
“I think that’ll be a pretty cool experience, something I’ve never experienced before.”
He has played in front of 40,000 for Sydney FC in the A-league but he knows he can expect an even more intense atmosphere in front of a partisan Rangers support. And, he can’t wait.
“There’s no reason to be daunted. We were top of the league for a reason. So we go into every game with confidence,” added Devlin.
“We’ll go with a game plan that the staff will come up with, we’ll try to be dominant – and obviously try to win the game.”
The reigning champions moved one point ahead of the newly-promoted side when they overwhelmed 10-man Hibs in Glasgow yesterday but Steven Gerrard’s men will feel the pressure being exerted by their Gorgie rivals, who seem to be set up to maintain a longterm challenge.
A stronger squad than they have mustered in several years, with options on the bench and quality in every department of the team, there is a tenacity and an ability that matches the growing confidence and ambition in a well-balanced side. The fact they play the game on the front foot, with the delightful Ben Woodburn and Barrie Mckay, combining with Liam Boyce in attack, is a bold statement of intent and has until now been backed up by industrious, sharp, incisive and fluid football.
On Saturday they saw off the latest challenger, Motherwell, another team on a positive run of form until they hit the Hearts roadblock, losing the game to a fifth-minute Boyce penalty, after the striker had chased a clever, albeit strongly-weighted Mckay pass, which might have been allowed to run out had it not been for the heightened level of determination in the capital ranks.
Clipped by Liam Kelly, he picked himself up and netted the spot-kick.
The beautifully-flighted freekick from Stephen Kingsley in the 22nd minute wrapped up the scoring for the day. In goals Craig Gordon had saves to make, some of them customarily splendid but Hearts could also have added another when Devlin won a hotlydisputed second-half penalty, which Kelly saved from Boyce.
“I threw my body to the ground as soon as I felt a touch. But you’ve got to do that,” said Devlin. “I wouldn’t class it as a dive. I couldn’t have stayed on my feet if I’d tried.”