Jonathan Walters has said he doesn't "know why people listen" to Roy Keane in response to comments the former Republic of Ireland assistant boss made about the striker this week.
Keane appeared at an Off The Ball roadshow event in Dublin on Wednesday night, during which he appeared to take a swipe at Walters over an interview he gave on The Late Late Show last May, when he opened up about the passing of his mother and brother, his wife's miscarriage and his daughter being diagnosed with scoliosis.
"Imagine if Jon won a trophy," Keane said. "He talks a good game. He goes on the TV, on about how he was harshly treated by me.
"Not kicking a ball for Burnley for two or three years. On TV, crying about his family situation. You know, how about lying low for a while, taking it easy? Have a look at his medals? Wouldn't take long."
Walters and Keane have clashed in the past, when they were both at Ipswich Town and then again during their time with Ireland, but the former insisted he had held no grudges, and said he was not bothered by Keane's latest comments.
'I'm still coming to terms with it,' - Jonathan Walters gave an incredibly touching interview on the Late Late Show about the losses he has suffered in his family. pic.twitter.com/TBTBayExkF
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) May 25, 2019
"I don't know why people listen to what he has to say sometimes," Walters told the BBC's Football Focus programme.
"I didn't particularly want to go on TV and (talk about his family)," he added, revealing the response he received to an in-depth interview given to The Times journalist Henry Winter prompted him to go on the show in a further effort to help others going through the grieving process.
''It doesn’t bother me one single bit what he says. I clearly bother him but he doesn’t bother me one bit.
"I've never been a person to hold grudges. There's plenty of things I could say and routes I could take.
"Whenever I get asked a question I always give a straight, honest answer. That's me, I have no allegiances, no loyalties. As I say I don't hold grudges.
"I'm the one who approached him in the Ireland camp to make up, but each person is different, each person is unique."
