Cammy Devlin returned to action as a second-half substitute in Heart of Midlothian's 2-0 win over Motherwell. It was his first minutes since early December following an ankle injury. 

The Aussie spoke about the frustration of missing key games and the Asian Cup, what he learned from his time out and what he has made of Calem Nieuwenhof's progression.

READ MORE: Hearts 2-0 Motherwell: Impact of formation change made clear

Was it good to be back out on the pitch?

Really good to be back out there. Any footballer being injured is the worst thing in the world and no different for me. I hated it, to be honest. You have got to work hard in the gym and that has been what I have been doing for the past three months and there is no feeling like it being on the grass running about with your mates and getting three points, no feeling like it, especially at home. Saturday was a massive game and if we won we might be able to make that gap bigger and that is what's happened. It's about going on now, winning more games and, for myself, playing as much as I can because it's good to be back.

Is the next step getting a regular spot in the team now you are back fit?

It's really good because we have won 11 out of the last 12. I haven't been on the field so to come back into a winning team is so positive as obviously the vibes around training are really high and for me being injured, that was really good for me, everyone coming in with a smile on their face, helping me in the gym. It's a great group of boys that we have got and being in a football club where there is competition for places, that should be the minimum at Hearts. It's a frustrating thing if you are on the other side of it but I have been injured so that hasn't been the case for me., I want to play football as much as I can. I think everybody knows my personality, how hunry and how desperate I am to be out on that pitch for every single game. It's a really positive atmosphere and the competition for places is very healthy. For a club like Hearts that should be the minimum.

How tough was it for you? It must have been doubly frustrating with Hearts doing so well and the national team at the Asian Cup.

Being injured, there's no good time for it. Your job every day is to rock up at training and work as hard as you can. The best time of the week is Saturday when you get to be in front of a crowd and practice what you have been doing in training. To miss out on that has been really tough, to be honest. There's no sugar-coating it, it's been really tough at times. To see your mates going and winning and it's probably been a lot tougher if the team was losing as you would be desperate to help your mates. To see them win has been really good and it brings a positive atmosphere to training. The ones that have been injured, it makes it a bit easier as people are happy around the place. Any game I miss I am devastated, but to miss three-odd months and the Asian Cup, that was something I had as one of my goals for the year so to not even be in contention for that because of injury was devastating. Natty and Kye did really well when they went over there and were really unlucky not to go further. Being injured at any time is tough.



It's serious FOMO, isn't it?

Double whammy. FOMO from not being at the Asian Cup and not playing for Hearts. It hasn't been fun but it gives you extra motivation to work as hard as you possibly can in the gym and I pride myself on hard work so that is what I have been doing and coming back in, it takes some time to get match fit. The past seven, eight days of training I have been putting my head down working as hard as I can and I feel I have trained really well. Hopefully, that leads to more and more minutes.

How did you deal with the Asian Cup? Did you watch it or was it one of those you find it tough to watch?

It's tough to watch as you are not there but they are my mates at the end of the day. Not just Natty and Kye but all the other boys I have grown up through the ranks in national team football with. I am not the sort of person because I am not there... I am not like that. Good things happen to good people so if you wish people well which I do, your time will come. I watched as much as I could and I think they did really well and were unlucky not to get further.

Is this the longest time you’ve been out with an injury?

At Hearts yes, I've been out for two months in my first season. I look after myself, this was a contact injury. Three months is a long time but boys have come back from longer. When I was younger I was out for a year or so. Injuries are horrible, I hate being on the sidelines watching. You work as hard as you can in the gym and reap the rewards later on. 

READ MORE: The evolution of Cammy Devlin: Stats, positive signs, coach insight

What did you learn from the period out injured?

You learn a lot. You can go one of two ways, sit and sulk and feel sorry for yourself, especially watching - it can be really negative on you. At tough times you need to show resilience and be the bigger person. Be there for your mates, support your mates because it is a team game and I’m big on that, being happy for everyone. When it comes to you doing your work, work as hard as you can. When you are watching the games, taking a back seat, you can pick up little things and look at what the coaching staff are wanting and that’s what I did, learn new things.

Steven Naismith spoke about the mentality change within the squad, have you noticed what has been building?

Definitely. Since Naisy has come in it has been really positive. It’s a project and good things take time, the messages they’ve been drilling into us as players takes time to make that actually happen. I feel like the resilience within the squad is massive. With the subs that have come on, over the past that I've been out, I feel they’ve made a massive difference in the games. We’ve scored a lot of second-half goals and that shows you the resilience. That’s something I’ve noticed and that’s the messages from up above. Be hard to beat, I think the boys are. At the same time, it’s about not getting complacent, the season is not done. We’ve done nothing yet, there is a long way to go. We’re in a good spot but it’s not sitting there and being happy because if we go like that it might not go the way we want. We saw what happened last year but it’s about kicking on and going into another gear and making that gap as big as we can.

READ MORE: Steven Naismith Q&A: Back 3 switch, Hearts Old Firm challenge, Baningime update

It is a big few weeks coming up, isn't it?

It’s a good time to be back, if we could have three games a week every week we’d take that. Coming back from injury you can see I'm desperate to be back out there. Three big ones, the Old Firm games are the ones you want to play in because you are challenging yourself, they’re the top two teams. Then the derby speaks for itself, midweek under the lights is very special. It’s only special if you win. First thing is first is Rangers, we’ll get a good week on the training pitch, we won’t get complacent or comfortable. We were really close to getting a result last time at Ibrox, going there and going one step better is where our focus will be.

How impressed have you been with Calem Nieuwenhof?

I’m buzzing for him, he is a great kid. It's great to have the Aussies over here. The whole changing room is great, we have such a good group. Over the past few weeks, he has come out of his shell and shown what he can do, he is a great player and we all know that. I’ve played against him for years back home and I hope he can kick on now.