The 19-year-old Devlin signed for the First Division club on 18 February 1992. By the time he made his Football League debut, starting in a 1–0 win at home to Coventry City on 11 April, County were well on the way to relegation. By his second and last appearance of the season, second-tier football for 1992–93 was confirmed. The following season, he was gradually eased into the first team: his first league appearance was as a substitute on 26 September, he made his first league start three days later, and he was more or less a first-team regular for the next couple of months, by which time County were firmly established in the relegation places. After Warnock was replaced by Mick Walker in January 1993, Devlin returned to the starting eleven and remained in it to the end of the season. He scored his first Football League goal in a 3–3 draw away to Grimsby Town on 27 February, and scored twice more to help the team retain their second-tier status with a 17th-place finish.