Fulham defender Cyrus Christie hit back at England legend Alan Shearer over criticism last week.
The Fulham player won the man of the match in Ireland's 0-0 draw at home to Denmark on Saturday night, a big change from his last appearance on the field of play.
Christie was on the wrong side of a 5-1 scoreline when his club played Arsenal and pundit Alan Shearer singled the Ireland international out for some harsh criticism on Match Of The Day.
“I didn't even see it, to be honest. Someone told me about it and I turned my notifications off on Twitter because I always seem to get abuse whether I play well or whether I played badly," Christie says of the Shearer criticism.
“I'll always have belief in myself, I'll always back myself and my ability.
“I go home every day and I go and do my extra training away from the training pitch, to try and make myself the best that I can be.
“Sometimes the rewards aren't there straight away but in the long run it will pay off.
“Shearer's got his opinion, at the end of the day he has to sit in the studio, he has to be positive and he has to be negative and I was the one to be chosen to be negative.
“The (Fulham) manager asked me to do a job and I stuck to that. I had to play high up the pitch, the centre-halves had to go out and it was one of them – I was the one who got picked on but that's what he (Shearer) is paid to do.
“There are quite a lot of pundits nowadays and that's what they're paid to do, to be negative. He's a legend in the game, he's been there and done it, obviously not as a defender but as a striker and you just have to respect the opinion of people like that."
He added: “Some people think my attitude isn't great because I've got a laid-back manner and it probably doesn't look like I'm trying, but I'm running around everywhere and doing what I'm good at.
“I always seem to come in for a bit of stick but I just take the good with the bad, working hard. The manager has full confidence in me and all that matters is the opinion of the manager and the people who employ me."
