MICHAEL GARDYNE has opened up for the first time on the “horrible” abuse he received after wrongful accusations of aiming homophobic abuse at Rangers players.

The Ross County veteran was cleared on Monday this week of any wrongdoing after the SFA ruled he had no case to answer.

The club goals and appearances record-holder was cited by the compliance officer for allegedly aiming derisory and homophobic comments at Connor Goldson and Alfredo Morelos in a Hogmanay clash in Dingwall.

Gardyne always protested his innocence with sources close to the player suggesting he had used a non-homophobic term during the exchange.

The incident was exacerbated when Ibrox manager Steven Gerrard highlighted his concerns in a post-match interview.

The Highland club, then under the management of Stuart Kettlewell, soon launched their own investigation and cleared Gardyne of guilt.

While relieved the matter has now been dealt with in his favour, Dundonian Gardyne, 35, admits the episode took a heavy toll.

He said: “I thought it was dead and buried after the game, but there were comments made after the game that kind of left it out there.

“It’s nice to see it’s been dropped now, which was always going to be the outcome in my eyes.

“Even if it went to a trial, I would have been found not guilty because there was no evidence there whatsoever.

“It was tough. For five or six weeks it was not nice with the private messages and stuff I was receiving through social media.

“It was hard - you get through it, but it was horrible.

“Hopefully it can be put to bed now and I can focus on trying to help my team in the next games that are coming up.”

County’s defeat at home to Motherwell makes those games all the more crucial to the Staggies, who slipped back into the relegation zone between their visitors and bottom-placed Hamilton, who both have two games in hand.

Gardyne felt his side needed to be “more streetwise” in protecting their first half lead against the Fir Park side, but is confident they can secure safety.

He said: “There are 12 games to go. It’s one game at a time but there is still a long way to go. There are four or five teams who could be dragged into it.

“We just need to look after ourselves, we’ve got another massive game coming up (against Hamilton next Wednesday).

“It’s a great bunch of lads. The standard in training is really good.

“There are a lot of bodies now, with a lot of competition for places which is also a good thing.

“The manager has come in with a lot of enthusiasm for the game - it’s infectious and rubs off on us.

“When we went a goal up there were nine lads on the bench celebrating the goal.

“That’s the way it needs to be until the end of the season. We are going to need everyone, and everybody is wanting to play.

“We maybe need to be a bit more ugly and a bit more horrible to play against.

“The teams we play against dive, they referee the game, and we need to be a bit more like that - shout for fouls, go down, and stop being too honest, like we are.”