JACK HENDRY had the chance to notch up some personal celtic glory last night when he had a great opportunity to head the ball into the Kilmarnock net that would have given Celtic the three points.
He couldn’t believe that he missed the target by the narrowest of margins and ran back to his right back slot with his shirt pulled over his head in frustration at the miss.
Hendry has ended up playing at right back more than his usual position as a central defender since arriving at Celtic in the transfer window and he has been able to fill in for Mikael Lustig as and when Brendan Rodgers has deemed fit, without any real dramas.
The former Celtic Academy player was speaking to the official Celtic website today about last night’s 0-0 draw.
“I like centre-half but the gaffer has asked me to play right-back against Kilmarnock. Every time I can go out on the pitch for Celtic, I’m going to take it. If I have to go out and fill that role, then I feel I’m capable of doing it and I’ll take the opportunity with both hands.
“Sometimes I’ve had to go a bit higher up the pitch. I haven’t really experienced that but it’s just about learning.
“Now, when I’m maybe playing centre-half in the future, I’ll have a better understanding of what the right-back’s going to do.
“For me, it’s another experience. It’s about trying to get as much information as possible and trying to learn from it.
“You have to believe in yourself and have that self-confidence. I feel I have that I have that but there are limits. You have to try and balance it. I feel I have that and I don’t want to lose it. Hopefully that will put me in good stead for the rest of my career.
“They (Killie) were set up for the draw so it made it difficult for us to break them down. We played well but we just didn’t have that cutting edge or that final product even though we played well for large spells.
“I thought we were unlucky. We had chances but it just didn’t quite fall for us. They set up with the intention of not conceding. They achieved that which is disappointing for us but hopefully next time we’ll know how to combat that.”
Hendry will be available for the game against Aberdeen on Sunday on Trophy Day and is likely to start as Brendan Rodgers knows that Hendry is unavailable for the Scottish Cup Final the following Saturday as he is cup-tied.
