At least, that’s what left-back Liberato Cacace implied when he was asked about Devlin’s form from central midfield.
The Nix are fresh off another clean sheet-backed win in which Cacace scored, but Devlin played another key role and his combination with German Matti Steinmann provided the foundation for an excellent victory.
Excellent Form
Western United were the latest side to fall as Talay’s outfit marched towards a play-off finals place. The Kiwis are now fourth in the A-League and have kept two clean sheets in a row after they followed up their 1-0 win over Newcastle Jets with their 2-0 defeat of United.
And Cacace believes Cameron Devlin played a massive part in that: “He brings a lot of positive energy, he’s always running around and breaking up the play.
“That’s the side of his game he’s very good at and he’s a key plug to our system. He breaks things up and links the play from the backline to the midfield and hes formed a great partnership with Matti (Steinmann).”
Forced His Way In
Devlin joined from Syndey FC and wasn’t picked for the first four games of the season - which the Nix lost. Since starting his first game on the 14th December, the 21-year-old has missed just 28 minutes of league action across 10 games.
The midfielder was never really given a game in Australia as he played just nine times for Sydney but Talay isn’t afraid of throwing youth a chance. 20-year-old winger Callum McCowatt has featured heavily, as has 24-year-old Jaushua Sotirio, 21-year-old Reno Piscopo (who would have played more had he not been involved in the Australian Olympic squad) and 18-year-old Ben Waine.
They could all use Devlin as an example of how to force your way into the Wellington Phoenix squad and become undroppable.