Cammy Devlin managed to nab Denmark legend Thomas Delaney’s shirt after full-time in Thursday’s 2-0 Euro defeat in Copenhagen. It’ll join a collection of tops that includes Lionel Messi’s from the World Cup two years ago.
But on the Parken Stadium pitch two nights ago it was Devlin and his skipper Lawrence Shankland who were seen tearing a strip off each other in a furious second half altercation. Hearts‘ midfield scrapper insists the duo kissed and made up after the fiery flare-up which was sparked by his misplaced pass. But he reckons the fall out proves the passion in Neil Critchley’s side to kick start a season that’s so far seen them suffer a series of blows.
That fight will be vital for tomorrow’s trip to face Kilmarnock. Then comes a must-win Europa Conference League clash with Petrocub in Gorgie on Thursday with the Jambos’ hopes of Euro progression on the line. And Devlin laughed: “We were arguing about a complete misunderstanding.
“He thought I was going long. But I tried to play him and I missed the pass. And then I got angry at myself because I missed the pass. But he thought I was angry at him for not getting it.
“That’s just football. I feel like you’ve got to be passionate. You’ve got to yell at your teammates. If they do well, get into them. If they do bad, get into them. Because they say you get the best out of each other. We’re fine. We can argue properly and then get in there and have a hug and a kiss and we’d be fine.
“We’re out there. We’re losing. We both want to win. You can see how hard we all try. If you don’t see that then you’d probably start asking questions as to why they’re not getting into each other. But it’s only passion. We both just want to win for the team. We’ve kissed and made up.”
Devlin accepts Hearts are nowhere near where they should be in the Premiership. But the midfielder alsomknows he’s just a win away from travelling further than he ever has in Europe. And the Aussie is adamant a season which started in reverse is very close to clicking into gear.
The Jambos have won just one of their last seven games in all competitions and sit second bottom of the league while Thursday’s defeat to Copenhagen has left them needing to beat Petrocub to guarantee a Conference League last 16 play off spot.
But there’s no negativity in Devlin’s thoughts ahead of a potentially pivotal week at home and abroad. He’s adamant it can still be a good season. He said: “Absolutely. I think you have to look at it like that or you will start falling into your shell. If we win on Thursday, that’s the furthest I’ve come in Europe. We’ve got a chance next Thursday. It’s all up to us. We’re at home.
“Like the gaffer said, it’s our home, it’s our fortress. I’m sure there will be no tickets left come the start of that game. It’s about us just taking that game to them. It would be disappointing if we didn’t get through now. It would be really disappointing to be honest.
“You have to look at it positively. It hasn’t been a great start to the season by any stretch. We’re nowhere near where we want to be in the league and we haven’t got a result in our last three Conference League games. First and foremost, Sunday is all we think about now. We need to get a result and start climbing up that table, that goes without saying.
“Then we’ll look to Thursday. We’re at home, if we win, we will go through. You have to be confident. We’re at home. All the home games we’ve had, we’ve done really well. It’s about picking ourselves up like we have had to do a lot this season. Just be men. When you’re at a club like Hearts, I’ve said it before, you have to stand up in these moments.”
Devlin admits Copenhagen were on a different level on Thursday. But he at least got a momento if not a point. He said: “I got Delaney’s top. Because I couldn’t get near him all night. My dad’s got a good collection at home. So I’ll have to give that to him.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to hold your hand up and give respect to the opposition. I think, to put it nicely, they were probably the better team and deserved to win on the night.
“They’re super players. I was saying to some of our young guys, when you’re playing against these players, just enjoy it. Just enjoy it. Give everything you’ve got, obviously, and do everything you can, but just enjoy it. These are special. You look over and you’ve got 3000-odd fans just at the end clapping us and we’ve just lost it. You’ve got to enjoy these nights. It was tough.”