Edinburgh City's Liam Henderson happy to endure jokes as namesake Blair plunders goals

Edinburgh City defender Liam Henderson has revealed he's had to endure bit of a ribbing this season despite the club excelling in both the league and cup competitions.
Defender Liam Henderson is happy to keep out the goals as Blair Henderson scores at the other endDefender Liam Henderson is happy to keep out the goals as Blair Henderson scores at the other end
Defender Liam Henderson is happy to keep out the goals as Blair Henderson scores at the other end

Sharing the surname of team-mate and Ladbrokes League Two top goalscorer, Blair, does have its disadvantages. Although Liam is happy to see striker Blair continue his rich vein of form which has bagged the former Annan and Stirling forward 18 goals already this term, the 22-year-old admits it’s likely the text messages will continue to clog up his inbox.

Ahead of Sunday’s William Hill Scottish Cup third-round tie against Inverness Caledonian Thistle – a side unbeaten in the Championship this season – Liam explained: “I’ve had quite a few messages after games from my mates saying ‘Hendo did you score a hat-trick?’ and what have you. Blair’s been banging them in for fun. We’ve done well at the back too, though, so we know that if we keep a clean sheet then there’s a good chance we’ll win because we’ve got boys who can score goals.”

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Henderson is relishing another opportunity of an upset this weekend when John Robertson’s Inverness vist Ainslie Park. Having last Saturday come from two goals down to dispose of Alloa on penalties to set up an Irn-Bru Cup semi-final tie away to Welsh outfit Connah Quay Nomads, Henderson is now gunning for the Highlanders. “It’s another step up for us again this weekend,” he said. “

Blair Henderson has scored 18 goals so far this termBlair Henderson has scored 18 goals so far this term
Blair Henderson has scored 18 goals so far this term

It’s one of these games you just don’t know how it’s going to go. We’ve got nothing to lose again so we just need to approach this one with the same mentality as last week. They’ve drawn an incredible amount of games so far but they haven’t lost so that says a lot about them. They won’t want to be put out of the Scottish Cup by a team two divisions below them. John Robertson is very experienced manager so he’s not going to take this one lightly.”

On the draw for the Irn-Bru Cup, Henderson added: “Now we’re in the semi- finals we want to get to the final. I don’t know a lot about the team but we know how big a game it’s going to be. It’s not until February though so we can start thinking about that after Christmas. We’re happy we’re through. I imagine we’ll go down on the Friday night and prepare properly for it. To be honest, I think we were all hoping to avoid Ross County away so we’re pleased.”

Having elected to try his hand with Perth-based outfit Stirling Lions in Australia earlier this year, Henderson is only too glad to be back home for a second spell with the Citizens after a six-month stint Down Under.

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Henderson has grasped the opportunity afforded to him by manager James McDonaugh this season despite having expressed his interest to pursue a career elsewhere at the turn of the year. “I’d only been at City for a couple of months having left Falkirk when the Australia thing came about,” Henderson said. “It was something I couldn’t really say no to – the chance to experience a new culture while playing football in a different country.

“It was too good an opportunity to turn down so I went for it. I wanted to see if it was a better standard of football but it didn’t really meet my expectations. I would say it was a similar standard to junior football here. I played quite a few games but it wasn’t really my style.

“I got speaking to the gaffer (McDonaugh) on WhatsApp and he said that he would take me back if I fancied moving back. I thought it was best to come home so I was only 
too glad to get the call from James.”