Boyle and Devlin are the best of pals Down Under but that all stops when the battle lines are drawn in the capital
Martin Boyle and Cammy Devlin(Image: SNS Group)
Martin Boyle admits he and Hearts rival Cammy Devlin blank each other in Edinburgh – despite being pals when they are with Australia.
The pair will be fierce rivals again on Saturday when the Jambos travel to Easter Road for the second derby of the season.
Hibs forward Boyle has been impressed with how Devlin has played a major role in Hearts’ charge at the Premiership summit. And that form will not have gone unnoticed as the combative midfielder attempts to force his way into Tony Popovic’s plans for next summer’s World Cup.
But Boyle admits both he and Devlin don’t speak when they are the opposite ends of the capitals footballing divide. He said: “Cammy has really impressed, he’s a fantastic young player. He gets stick for doing what he does, but he’s effective at what he does.
“He does what he does best, he breaks up play and he gets around the pitch really well. Hopefully our midfield can overrun them this weekend and he’s kept quiet. As a team-mate on the national team we get along really well but when we’re club level, we don’t speak or anything like that.
“The Australia midfield is a tough one to break into and as well as he’s playing, he’s been given the opportunity to be selected but obviously has not had his chance yet. He’s doing really well and I’m sure the manager of the national team will be looking out for that.
“It’s good for the national side but in terms of playing against us, we obviously don’t want him to be at his best.”
Devlin has been included in the last two Socceroos squads but not featured in their friendly clashes.
It’s a different story for Boyle with the 32-year-old as much a talisman for Australia as he is for Hibs. And Boyle is desperate to make sure he remains firmly in Popovic’s plans for North America after agonisingly being forced to sit out the last World Cup in Qatar due to injury.
Boyle added: “I just need to keep doing what I’m doing, try and get into those positions to score. I always try and give my best for the club and if I merit it, then I’m there.
“Obviously I had the disappointment of missing the last one, but at the same time, I can look back and say that I’ve contributed towards qualifying for this one as well. It’s still a long way away and we have to focus on this Christmas period and get points for our club.
“Leading up to the World Cup it’s a nice feeling and now the draw has been done it’s starting to feel a bit more real now.”
Boyle would love to close the 16 point gap on Devlin’s Hearts on Saturday with the Leith outfit desperately looking to build some momentum. He added: “I think that’s the thing, their consistency has been good and that is something that we’ve definitely lacked.
“We know that, we know there’s obviously times of the season where we’ve let games slip away from us, we’ve dropped a lot of points.
“Obviously the consistency is definitely key in this league, so they’re obviously maintaining that.
“When it’s a derby, the famous old saying is form goes out the window so hopefully we can play to our best and get the result.”