By Lewis Birrell
For someone who hates receiving praise, Bellshill's Shaun Rooney has earned a barrow load of it this season.
Since signing for St Johnstone last summer, the big defender has cemented himself in the starting 11 and bagged a historic Betfred Cup Final winner against Livingston.
A popular figure in the Scottish game, the Saints fans have taken Rooney to their hearts - despite not having witnessed him in the flesh.
Between his new found Perth fan-club, supporters from former sides and hoards of well wishers from his hometown of Bellshill, few players in Scotland have more support behind them than Rooney.
He cites his late Mum Liz as inspiration for his meteoric rise in the Scottish game.
Rooney said: "The St Johnstone fans have been very welcoming and have been great on social media.
"If there's one thing I hate though, it's praise. I'm always looking to try and make myself better.
"The rest of the players have taken to me well since I arrived. I'm a loud boy and enjoy a laugh so it's been great to gel in with everyone.
"A few things happened when I played for Inverness with my Mum dying and my Grandad in the following December.
"Those things gave me a huge motivation to kick on and I made sure to work hard and put in good performances every week to make them proud.
"The Caley fans and sponsors sent me messages of support and were great with me .The Caley Jags Away sponsored my strip and they kept in touch.
"The support I get from people in Bellshill means so much to me.
"I'll never change, I'm not one of those people who will forget about where I came from.
"I just go about my normal life. I don't put myself in a bracket because I'm on the TV every week.
"If I want a drink, I'll go to the pub with my pals. I'll go out shopping and stuff with my girlfriend Hannah.
"People come up to me to say I'm doing well and it makes me happy.
"But I always want to get better."
To the casual Scottish football fan, it would appear that Rooney has burst on to the scene over the last six months.
But since being released by Dundee United at 16-years-old, the powerful wing-back has taken the long and proper route to the top.
Rooney's energetic style of play has earned cult-hero status at several of his former clubs.
Hailed as 'the Bellshill Cafu', Rooney's journey to the Premiership ranges from a stint in League Two with Queens Park, a topsy-turvy season under Jackie McNamara at York and a Highland adventure.
He said: "I don't know about being a fans favourite everywhere I go - I was hated at Dunfermline and York!
"Playing at Queens Park was very good. I was a bag of nerves in my first season but playing men's football at 17-years-old was a great experience.
"I made the League Two team of the year and it's one of the best times I've had in football. I know it's not full-time but I was playing against men who knew the tricks of the game.
"It set me up well for moving full-time to Dunfermline. I didn't really enjoy myself there as I wasn't playing enough football but we had a great dressing room.
"In hindsight I should've stayed for another season at Queens Park to help my development.
"York had just been relegated into the Conference and we were aiming to try and get them back into League Two.
"When Jackie McNamara phoned me I was straight down there - that's where I wanted to go.
"We tried to play out from the back but I think you can overplay a bit in that division, you don't get a minute.
"I didn't play as much when Gary Mills came in as manager but I still had a great time. Aidan Connolly and I lived together and we just had a laugh.
"It was the maddest year of my life because I was always out - I was never in the flat!
"I enjoyed myself down there for the social aspect, but the football side of things didn't go as planned. Then I came up the road to Queen of the South.
"In my first year at Caley I didn't play much but I really kicked on in my second year.
"The changing room is unbelievable up there. Big Coll Donaldson and Nathan Austin were just like me, up for a laugh every single day.
"It's a long way from home and you're up there yourself. But everybody was there to try and progress their career so we all got on well.
"Tommy Wright signed me at St Johnstone on a pre-contract then he left.
"I didn't know if Callum Davidson would fancy me or not but I always said to myself that I would give my maximum to impress him.
"He's seen that I can play at this level. I wasn't playing at the start so I said 'that's fine' and trained relentlessly.
"I did a lot of running and practice after training and thankfully I've had a good stint in the team. Long may it continue.
"Now my full focus is on helping the team reach the top six."
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