Nicky Devlin wants to extend Aberdeen’s 100 per cent winning streak and to go away with Scotland on a high.
The 30-year-old has been called up by Steve Clarke’s national team for the first time for this month’s Nations League games with Croatia and Portugal. Devlin has been rewarded for some impressive form and helping Aberdeen to 12 straight wins and he is looking to make it 13 when Hearts visit Pittodrie on Sunday.
Devlin stated: “What is really important to me is that we go off to the internationals on the back of a good result against Hearts. The Scotland thing almost doesn’t seem real just now, because we’ve got that game and my full focus just now is on Sunday and making sure we can pick up another three points because I know how hard the boys have worked to get to the position we’re in just now.
“Especially going into an international break, we don’t want to go into that break on the back of a poor result, we want to go in with another three points and to put ourselves in a really strong position in the league.”
Hearts swapped Aberdeen for Scotland’s third force last season but they have failed to hit the ground running this time around. They are bottom of the Premiership with just two points and are looking for a new boss after Stevie Naismith was sacked. The Jambos also head to the Granite City on the back on an energy-sapping trip to Azerbaijan, where they played Dinamo Minsk in the Europa Conference League.
Devlin knows Hearts have failed to hit the heights but has warned they have quality if they do click. Aberdeen could go a massive 16 points ahead of the capital side with a victory.
“We know we need to be at our best because Hearts have got good players,” the defender acknowledged. “They don’t become a bad team overnight. I understand they’ve maybe not started the season the way they would have wanted to, but we’re under no illusions, they’ve got good players and if we don’t perform at our best, then we’ll come unstuck.”
The good thing for Aberdeen is that the majority of the Pittodrie crowd will be in red and white, as the game is close to a sellout. The Red Army have really invested in Jimmy Thelin’s team and Devlin is well aware they have played their part in the perfect start.
He said: “It should be a big crowd and the manager spoke about them again on Saturday after the Dundee game. They travelled in their numbers there, and especially at Pittodrie, they’ve been so supportive of us.
“They’ve been behind us from minute one until the 96th minute and in some of the games it’s taken almost until then to get the breakthrough. We’re going to need them again against Hearts and if the fans need any reassurance, it does give the boys a lift when they walk out and they see the place full.”
Aberdeen have scored plenty of goals this season but in the second half at Dundee last weekend they have to dig deep. Tony Docherty’s side piled on the pressure as they pushed, unsuccessfully, for an equaliser. Devlin was pleased to get Aberdeen over the line. The former Livingston star, speaking on RedTV, added: “It was a difficult second half at Dundee but that’s going to happen at different times of the season.
“We’re not going to dominate teams for 38 league games. There’s going to be times you have to dig in and especially at Dundee. It’s a difficult place to go. I’m a defender, it’s part of my job to try and stop the ball going in the back of the net, so I was happy to contribute to that at the weekend.”