IT’S not just fatherhood that has helped Elliot Watt learn to switch off from football.

The 21-year-old’s work-life balance has certainly shifted when he is home from training as he helps change the nappies of his baby son.

But Watt has also stopped overthinking about games by cutting down on his time on social media.

Online stick is a growing issue in football and the City midfielder has got himself out of the habit of scanning his mobile for comments.

“At times last season, I was checking Twitter after games to see what people were saying,” he said.

“Whereas now I don’t really go on Twitter or Instagram. I might do it now and again but nowhere near as much as I was a year or two ago.

“I’ve got a lot of things to do now with having a young son but it also comes with experience and seeing what goes on.

“Phil Jones put a message out a couple of weeks ago about the abuse he gets.

“You’ve got to try and block it out as much as you can because it can only have a negative impact on you.

“I don’t really go on social media as much as I used to. That comes with having the little one but also experience.”

You won’t get Derek Adams complaining at Watt’s mature decision to step away from the online world.

The Bantams chief admits it is a problem that is only going to increase.

Adams said: “It’s extremely difficult. Everybody in the modern era wants to be a superstar and think that if they go on social media, they’ll see they are the answer.

“It’s the nature of football and the world we’re in and we’re not going to change it. It’s only going to get worse and we just have to blank that out as managers.

“It’s the same when you’re in a football stadium. It’s the opportunity of a player and manager to blank out everything around them and concentrate on your job.

“That’s what anybody in sport has to try and do.”

Adams deliberately steers clear of social media but is kept informed of what has been said if he needs to know.

“It’s not a challenge to me,” he added. “I don’t look at the social media of players, it would be unwise to do that because it would cloud my judgement with what they are saying.

“If there’s anything I need to be told then I get fed that information. But I prefer not to judge someone on what is on a social platform.

“If you don’t look at it, then you don’t know what’s going about.

“I remember an old assistant manager I had who used to be at Millwall. He would be in the car and people were saying that he was getting slaughtered each week on the radio station.

“He said that he’d got a brand new BMW and didn’t know how to work the radio so didn’t know what was going on!

“That’s the best way to go about it. Noise causes you a problem and distraction.

“If you blank that out and concentrate on your own ethos and experiences, then you’ve got a chance.”

Watt cramped up towards the end of Saturday’s draw with Bristol Rovers but is fit and raring to extend his run of featuring in every league game since signing for City.

He is thrilled to have the fans back this season – though admits he can get carried away.

“My dad recognised that after Andy (Cook) scored the second goal that I was in with the crowd too much.

“That took up some of my energy, hence the reason I was cramping.

“He had a few words with me but it’s difficult not to get emotionally involved when you’ve got 15,000 to 16,000 pushing you on.

“I’ve said it loads of times but the fans here are class and that’s one of the main factors why I signed here last summer.

“We try to send them home proud after every game.

“Obviously we were disappointed we couldn’t do that Saturday but we’ll try again tomorrow.”

Watt is confident that a similar performance against Hartlepool will deliver the result City should have got at the weekend.

"We’ve dominated the game the other day for probably 80 minutes but then we drew 2-2 and that isn’t good enough.

“It shouldn’t be because Bradford City should be winning most games in this league. We try to pride ourselves on that.

“You can’t win every game and we recognise that as players. But the main thing was the performance and we understood how well we played.

“If we play like that for the majority of the season, I’m sure we’ll end up where the fans want us to be.”