Kilmarnock’s Stephen Hendrie has opened up on his move to West Ham and why he would complete the cycle all over again.
A promising youngster at Hamilton, the Hammers snapped up the talented full-back in 2015. Over two years though, he didn’t make a single senior Irons appearance.
It has stalled his career, with mixed spells at Southend, Blackburn and Motherwell following on from his failed London move.
Speaking to the Daily Record (page 54, 09/11/19), he has no regrets over his £1.75 million move: “If I hadn’t gone to West Ham I’d be a better player if only because I would’ve played more games.
“I wouldn’t say the last two years have been wasted but I haven’t played as many games as I could or should have. It would have been different at Hamilton, I could have had another 80, 90 games under my belt.
“But there’s no point in looking back to it. Of course I would make the same move. I don’t regret that at all. When a club like West Ham come calling you can’t knock it back.”
Ex-West Ham man Hendrie needs to find form at Kilmarnock
So far this season Hendrie has been behind Niko Hamalainen in the Killie pecking order, making just one Premiership appearance so far this term.
For him to recapture the form he had at Accies, he has to play. Whilst he doesn’t regret moving to London, it’s undeniable that it has had an adverse effect on his career.
That being said, Hendrie’s only 24. There’s still time to revive his career but sitting on the Kilmarnock bench every week certainly won’t help his cause.
Games are what Hendrie needs right now after making just 25 appearances since the 2017/18 season. He needs to find a way to break into this Kilmarnock side, who boast the joint-third best Premiership defence.