Wembley-bound Hibs star Boyle living the dream

Wide man eager to take on England on home soil

Socceroos stars Martin Boyle and Cammy Devlin in opposition at Tynecastle

Hibs winger Martin Boyle says playing at Wembley will surpass even his wildest dreams, as the Socceroos star gears up for an international break laden with promise.

Boyle, who missed out on representing Australia at last year’s World Cup Finals because of injury, is the squad for Friday’s friendly against England.

And he admitted: “I never thought I would play there, not in my wildest dreams.

“I was just saying to the missus the other night that we went to a concert there a couple of years ago.

“We went to see One Direction. Now I’m going there to play on the pitch.

“Me personally, I’ve missed a lot of big occasions on the international stage, so this one will be special for me.”

Asked if the international break was coming at a bad time for a Hibs side whose weekend comeback against Hearts extended their unbeaten run under Nick Montgomery to five games, Boyle smiled as he admitted: “Not for me personally, because we’re playing England – so I can be a bit selfish about it!

“But, yeah, obviously we’ve been unbeaten since the new manager came in, we’ve got a tough game (Rangers away) when we come back.

“We get back quite late but the rest of the lads will be in training – and I’ll get all the information I need when I get back in training.

“We’ve got a few international players away representing their country, which is good for the club. Obviously we’ll be back and take it from there.”

Boyle is enjoying life under Montgomery, despite the new gaffer asking his players to use their brains as much as their legs during long days at East Mains.

“Aye, my brain doesn’t keep up with it, as you can imagine!” he said of the new approach.

“There’s a lot of work, a lot of information, out on the pitch every day, watching videos, getting information to process.

“It’s probably more than I’ve had with previous managers. Every manager is different, this is how he wants to set up – and if we’re going to play that way, we need to take the information on board, keep doing it on the pitch.”

Full of praise for Man of the Match Elie Youan’s two-goal showing against Hearts, speedy wide man Boyle said he was delighted to have someone capable of matching his pace on the opposite wing.

“He’s brilliant,” said the 30-year-old. “He’s got that pace, which means we can keep up with each other.

“He’s assisted me a lot, which is fantastic. Because normally when the ball goes over the top there’s only me running in behind.

“But I know that, as soon as he’s in behind, I can get on my bike, try to get in the box and score goals.

“He’s a real talent and a threat. I think he knows himself that, if he can be consistent in his game, he’ll be a top, top player.

“He’s already scored some big goals this season, absolutely, he’s stepped up on the big occasions.

“If we can get more goals and assists out of him, we’ll have a top quality player on our hands.”