Defiant Hendry’s focus is on clearing lines not online jibes

GORDON PARKS

g.parks@dailyrecord.co.uk matters. Sometimes you will get criticised, other times you will get plaudits.

“People are entitled to say their bit. I just try to stay away from social media. It’s unnecessary for a footballer to look at it – I felt that was the best thing to do.

“I wasn’t on it that much before I came here but there is no real necessity to be on it.

“The opinions that matter most are the people around the team, the coaching staff and my team-mates. Obviously these days people are a few clicks away from giving an opinion but most of it is irrelevant. The majority of the stuff on it is of no use to me.”

Hendry played his part in making it seven clean sheets from the last eight Celtic matches with Saturday’s win over Aberdeen.

The game also marked an astonishing record – it was only the second time he’d started a Premiership match in which the Hoops had banked three points.

But there’s a growing maturity from the Scotland fringe man who has ditched Twitter for good, insisting he’s too busy trying to become a better footballer than be distracted by the boo boys or any negative background noise.

He said: “Obviously social media can be good for keeping fans updated but I think that’s as far as it goes.

“You can’t get dragged into it and be looking at certain stuff because it distracts you from what you should be focusing on and doing on the pitch.

“You should be looking at games and thinking about opponents rather than going into what other people think.

“It is part of the game now, social media, and as a player you have to find the best way to deal with it.

“There is loads of experience in our dressing room if I ever want to talk to someone about