“Hopefully my full career is like this,” said Devenny. “If I can always move onto the next achievement quickly.
“None of it felt unrealistic. There’s still so much more to do both here and with the national team.
“It’s not even been a year, but I feel like I’ve played with them for years. There’s actually quite a lot of similarities between this team [Palace] and Northern Ireland, in terms of formation and the fact we’ve got a lot of young exciting players.
“Against Germany [the game after the Luxembourg win], we were really in the game. I actually thought we were more threatening in the first-half. The break came at a good time for them.
“We lost goals more through errors, rather than them playing well. So there’s always belief in our team and the aim is to get to the World Cup.”
Germany eventually won that game despite another fine performance, and assist, from Devenny. But the performances bode well for the future, to the point where a trip to America for the finals may still be on the agenda next summer.
On Friday evening, Devenny could earn his eighth start in a row – and his 10th cap overall – against Slovakia in Košice, with Northern Ireland looking to move level on points with their hosts heading into the final round of matches.
Trailing both Group A leaders Germany, and runners-up Slovakia by three points (and a goal differential of four and two respectively), a positive result on Friday would open the door for Northern Ireland to either secure qualification or a play-off spot.
Next week, they host Luxembourg – who have scored just once, and conceded 10, in their four defeats thus far – in the final round of matches, whilst Germany host Slovakia in Leipzig.