Hearts midfielder Cammy Devlin was hailed for his energy after his full Australia debut saw him play through the pain barrier of a bloody head knock.
The Tynecastle hero had to have stitches inserted in a wound caused by an early collision in the Socceroos’ 2-1 friendly defeat to Ecuador in Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium. Devlin, making his first start for his country, was eventually replaced after 54 minutes by Melbourne City’s Aiden O’Neill.
But not before he’d been bandaged up Terry Butcher-style after a full-blooded first half tackle saw him caught on the side of the head by an opposition knee. Aussie boss Graham Arnold paid tribute to the 24-year-old’s bravery and willingness to continue flying into tackles after the ugly first half collision. He said: “That’s Cammy’s energy. He had stitches at half time which I was a bit concerned about in the second half. He didn’t want to come off but I thought it would be safer.”
Arnold handed Devlin a place in his World Cup squad back in November and while the midfielder failed to feature in their march to the last 16 he is seen as a key man for the national side’s future. The Socceroos travel to face England in a friendly in October. And Arnold has challenged his rookies, including Devlin to go and make an impact for their clubs in the meantime.
He said: “I want to see them play. Plenty of minutes and work on the physical aspect. As you saw tonight that was the standout - they won almost every second ball because they were physically stronger.”
Devlin was the only one of Arnold’s SPFL-based stars to start the friendly as the boss tinkered with his starting line up. Hearts team mates Kye Rowles and Garang Kuol made second half substitute appearances while Jason Cummings was also a late replacement. But St Mirren pair Keannu Baccus and Ryan Strain were unused subs as was Hearts full-back Nat Atkinson.
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