Cammy Devlin keen to regain ‘that winning feeling’ and see Hearts back on track

Cammy Devlin revealed his desperation to end Hearts’ dismal run of form by beating Dundee United on Sunday in the last game before the international break.

The Jambos have failed to win any of their six competitive matches this term and have lost each of their last five, including Thursday’s Europa League play-off second leg at home to Viktoria Plzen, which sent them into the Conference League.

Hearts’ last victory was at home to Dundee on May 11 and Devlin is aware of the importance of trying to stop the rot against in-form United before the club season temporarily stops for international football.

“I’ve missed that winning feeling, there’s nothing like it,” said the Australia midfielder. “Winning a game of football is the best feeling in the world.

“It doesn’t matter how we win, it would be really good for us as players, for the coaching staff, for the club, to just get that winning feeling back, for the fans to go back to the pubs after a game with a win and heading into the international break.

“I think whether you’ve won five in a row or you’ve lost five in a row, it’s important to go into the break with a win. We’ll be doing everything in our power to make that happen. Fingers crossed we can.”

Hearts will be hoping to have talismanic captain Lawrence Shankland back after he missed the Plzen game with a minor knee injury sustained in last weekend’s defeat by Motherwell.