Jeff Hendrick getting used to life in the spotlight

Strolling through a Dublin shopping centre yesterday, Jeff Hendrick sampled a new phenomenon that comes with the territory from shining for your country at a major tournament.

The midfielder is not one to indulge the limelight yet doesn’t adopt the prima-donna attitude of encasing himself from an Irish public becoming more accustomed to his role in Martin O’Neill’s team.

This time three years ago, Hendrick’s absence in Austria for Giovanni Trapattoni’s last game was hardly noticed, unlike this Saturday’s assignment in Vienna when his return from suspension is more than compensating for the unavailability through injury of midfield partner James McCarthy.