Derek McInnes reveals long term admiration of Hearts star who 'gives a bit of everything'
Derek McInnes was a big fan of Cammy Devlin from afar – and has loved working with him at close quarters.
The new Hearts manager sees a big role for the Australian midfielder in his team this season with Devlin having featured heavily in their pre-season and league cup and games.
As part of McInnes' high press approach, Devlin's ball-winning ability in the middle of the park will be crucial as Hearts gear up for Aberdeen's Premiership visit of Aberdeen.
And the Jambos gaffer is thrilled with what he has seen from the 27-year-old so far.
McInnes said: 'I'm absolutely delighted with him, he's been first class - even from our first conversation with Cammy when we were on holiday.
'I've always been an admirer from a distance. And now that I'm his manager I'm really enjoying working with him.
'I think he gives you a bit of everything.
'I just want him to be a midfielder and he doesn't need to overthink his game too much.
'The game will come naturally to Cammy if he keeps getting about his work and he's been different class.'
New recruit Oisin McEntee is similar to Devlin but also offers an aerial presence and McInnes is just as delighted with how the Irishman has settled into his new surroundings following his switch from Walsall.
McEntee gave fans a taste of what is to come with an all-action display in the weekend's impressive 3-0 friendly win over Premier League newcomers Sunderland.
McInnes added: 'He's a ball winner and keeps it simple, he's progressive - plays up and down the pitch.
'You've seen everything and why we wanted Oisin in the team against Sunderland.
'We've tried him in one or two different positions and sometimes in the pre-season games you don't always get a chance to go and snap into tackles and chance to turn the ball over and show that aggression.
'We've had most of the ball in that sense so Saturday was a good game.
"There's seven, eight, nine games with opponents in our league that I can see Oisin really as effective as he was on Saturday.'
McInnes is not short of options with his bloated squad having already added seven new faces with more set to follow.
And he admits picking his starting 11 to face Aberdeen will be a challenge.
He added: 'When everybody puts their best foot forward and there's a lot of people putting their hands up to play – that's great for a manager.
'Obviously I can only pick 11 guys.I think I could pick so many different 11s and I'd feel confident we could compete and get results.
'So I've got an idea about how I want to play and some of the players within that but we've still got quite a few days in training for the players and we've got a bounce game on Wednesday to try and top up the minutes for the others.'
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