by Adam Kennedy

As a young player at either Celtic or Rangers, it can be tough to carve out a career for yourself playing for one of Glasgow’s big two week-in-week-out. Youngsters can be left in the lurch upon the expiry of their contracts considering it’s a real sink-or-swim scenario.

Tranmere Rovers midfielder Regan Hendry has taken a different path – representing Raith Rovers and Forest Green previously – and whilst he found it tricky to break into the Celtic first team and pull on the green and white hoops, his story so far is a successful one.

Under Rob Edwards, the now Luton Town manager in the Premier League, The Green won League Two the season before last as they pipped Exeter City on goal difference.

Being promoted as champions capped off a magnificent debut season in England after Hendry left Fife for Gloucestershire and decided to play his football at The New Lawn.

“He was a younger manager,” began Hendry when talking about the current Hatters boss. “He hadn’t really had a big job before that. He came in and we had a good team anyway, but from him it was about positivity round the place,” the former Raith Rovers captain recalls.

“He set us up in a way that got the best out of us all, and we kind of stuck to the one tactic that we had all season and it worked for us,” the midfielder claimed. “He’s done very well for himself and he deserves it because more than anything, he’s a good man.

If you put the football aside, he looks out for players. That’s his best attribute in my eyes, his man management. Away from football, he looks after you and always makes sure you’re okay.”

Having played under a manager currently plying his trade in England’s top tier, Hendry will work under another former Premier League gaffer with his Tranmere teammates. Nigel Adkins is the Merseysiders’ interim boss and Hendry believes it’s a great appointment.

“He’s got a proven record, it’s always good when you get managed by a big name like that. He’s been at the top for a reason so you’re just trying to learn as much as you can under him.

He’s interim at the moment, I don’t know how long he may or may not be there but it’s about trying to learn as much as you can under him, nitpick his brain and see what players are doing at that level that we aren’t.”

The former Southampton manager has so far overseen six games in charge of his former club, with two victories and three defeats. Hendry scored the opening goal in their most recent success, a 2-1 win over Bradford City, and hopes they’ll ascend up the league table.

“The aim at the start of the season was to get promoted,” admitted the playmaker.

“It may sound silly right now, because of where we are in the league but that was the aim. It’s obviously changed now, we’re focusing on each game as it comes and picking up as many points as we can.

The one thing that I have learned from being down here (south), the last two or three years is if you can put a run together – three or four wins in a row – you’re there. It’s only 10 points at the moment so if you can win three or four games, it sounds easier said than done, but if you can win those games then you’re there before you know it.”

Having been successful in League Two beforehand and under a manager who’s won promotion from both the English Championship and League One, both Hendry and Adkins are looking to add another promotion to their CVs which could ultimately be considered their most impressive.