HAMILTON captain Michael Devlin admits he took confidence from his manager’s claim that he could be a Scotland player one day soon.

But the defender is enjoying playing and developing at Accies too much to concern himself too much with the prospect.

With Scotland’s defence under scrutiny after conceding six goals in two games, Martin Canning recently expressed surprise that more people had not mentioned Devlin as a potential international centre-back.

The 23-year-old said: “I don’t know what the other boys were saying, they might have been saying a few different things behind my back, but that was a vote of confidence from the manager. He has shown great confidence in me since he took over.

“I played beside him under the previous manager and learnt a lot off him. He constantly used to talk me through games and training. He has been a massive influence on my career and he is exactly the same as the manager.

“So to hear him saying something like that, a guy who has played at the top level all his days in the Premier League, does mean a lot to me.

“But at the end of the day it’s performances for the club that potentially thrust you into that kind of position. It’s nice to hear but, until further down the line, that’s not really something I’m thinking too much about.

“It would be a dream come true to represent your national team, of course I would love that. But it’s up to other people to decide.

“I will continue to work hard here, try and improve my game and do my best for Hamilton Accies.

“If anything else comes of that, then fantastic.”

Devlin missed the first half of last season with a knee injury so he is just happy to be fit and captaining Accies.

“I love playing football and I love training,” he said ahead of Saturday’s Ladbrokes Premiership clash with Partick Thistle.

“I hate missing either. So I’m just grateful that I’m fortunate to do the job I love. I’m clutching at straws to call it a job to be honest.

“I’m very grateful for the position I’m in. It was a real honour to be named captain at the start of the season and I’m just enjoying my football at the moment. It’s a great bunch of boys and I love playing under the manager and the staff.

“I’m happy to be playing week in, week out and I’m injury-free.”