Neil McCann was running out of superlatives to describe Nicky Devlin’s incredible performance for Aberdeen against Rangers on Wednesday.
As per usual, Devlin ran his socks off for the Dons and was a massive factor in their victory that keeps them unbeaten in the Premiership.
Aberdeen are now also nine points clear of Rangers as they leave the struggling Glasgow side behind in the fight for the title.
Devlin scored the opening goal with a thunderous strike inside the box to set Pittodrie alight before Shayden Morris scored the winner after Rangers equalised.
The right-back deservedly picked up the Sky Sports man of the match award after the victory and McCann summed up perfectly how vital a cog Devlin is in the Jimmy Thelin machine this season.
McCann waxes lyrical about Nicky Devlin
Speaking on Sportscene, McCann analysed Devlin’s display: “Wow. I’ll tell you, what a heart he’s got. Heart, endeavour, grit, determination, all these words you can describe Nicky Devlin with.
“He’s had to earn his stripes before coming to a club like Aberdeen. But this guy epitomises the season for me and how it’s been so far.
“Jimmy Thelin has totally released the shackles off this team. The two holding midfielders, they don’t just hold, and this guy (Devlin) says ‘I’m just going to stay up and go play centre-forward’.
“He’s just an incredibly selfless player. Look at the yardage he takes from (Rangers winger Nedim) Bajrami. By the way, Rangers are on the counter-attack! He just kills him. It is just quite sensational work rate.
Commenting on Devlin’s goal, McCann continued: “And when it falls to him, bang, top corner, dreamland for Aberdeen. Really bad defending and Devlin, thanks very much and I thought he was absolutely immense tonight.”
Devlin’s Aberdeen stats vs Rangers
Devlin was also rated FotMob’s star man against Rangers with a 7.8 match rating. The 31-year-old’s will to get forward is exemplified with his three shots on goal, one of course being his goal in the first-half.
He delivered four passes into the final third of the pitch and also had four touches in the opposition box, including the shot that rebounded off both posts before falling to Morris, who fired in Aberdeen’s second goal.
Devlin won 100 percent of his tackles, won three of his six duels and made five clearances and blocks across the 90 minutes plus stoppage time.
It was a relentless display from the former Livingston star and he’s one of the club’s best assets despite playing at right-back.