COLIN Hendry might be struggling to get a game for Wanderers but the veteran Scot is still having an influence on the Premiership campaign, according to "rookie" centre half Mike Whitlow.

The Reebok club captain, who is enjoying a new lease of life after a successful switch of roles at the age of 33, credits Hendry and his current sidekick, Gudni Bergsson, for teaching and encouraging him in the art of central defending.

"I'm still naive but hopefully I will learn," Whitlow admitted after his latest impressive performance in Sunday's 2-1 win at Ipswich.

"That was only my 12th game in there in the Premiership and what a place to play! I'm just playing with a smile on my face and enjoying it.

"I still get dragged about a bit but the 'old man' (Bergsson is three years his senior) is there to help me.

"I'm enjoying playing alongside Gudni, who is magnificent and a big help but I must also thank Colin Hendry ... he helps me a great deal too.

"It's about talking, keeping your shape, staying on your feet. You know the players you're going to play against and Gudni and Colin have probably played against them so they give me advice on what they are likely to do. Every little bit helps."

With injuries having restricted him to just eight starts last season, Whitlow was not expected to figure as prominently and influentially as he has so far in the Premiership campaign. But Hendry missed the start of the season with a knee injury and, after being pressed into service as an emergency centre-half on the opening day of the season at Leicester, the man who had played left back throughout his career has gone from strength to strength, fashioning with Bergsson one of the most resilient centre-back pairings in the Premiership.

"Everybody was unbelievable last year," he recalls, grateful to the team-mates whose efforts presented him with another crack at Premiership football. "I was just watching it.

"I had a couple of games in there at centre-half and I got on for a wave at Cardiff (he was a late substitute in the Play-off final). But I got the opportunity at Leicester because a couple of players were injured and I grabbed it with both hands. It's new to me but I'm learning and it's just fantastic to be playing against the players I am playing against every week."

It is a tribute to the way he has made the transition that Sam Allardyce no longer regards Whitlow as a left back and a testimony to how well he has played that Hendry, a player with 51 international caps and one of the most respected players in his position, has had to content himself with just two Worthington Cup appearances this season.