Celtic winger, Mikey Johnston, has been receiving much of the praise after the Republic of Ireland’s 4-0 win over Gibraltar last night.
Deservedly so many of you will say. But there was one other Celtic player who was on international duty with Ireland last night and that was Hoops defender, Liam Scales.
The 25-year-old has been enjoying his first-ever international call-up and whilst his debut was in the 2-0 defeat to Greece, it seems that against Gibraltar, Scales has made the Irish media sit up and take notice of his brilliant passing ability.
What the Irish press have been saying about Celtic’s Liam Scales
It seems that they were very impressed with him. Not only is Scales enjoying a rich vein of form for Brendan Rodgers‘ side, he is also repaying Stephen Kenny’s faith in him by turning up for the Ireland manager when he needed him most.
Kenny has been under pressure from the press due to a poor run of results in this campaign but at least Scales’ performance is one of the shining lights for the under-pressure manager.
Balls.ie: ‘Liam Scales – 6
‘The Celtic man looked good on the ball in Faro, admittedly under absolutely no pressure from the opposition.
‘In terms of defending, one or two set pieces aside, he had very little to do.’
The Irish Sun: ‘Liam Scales – 7
GOT at the nod at centre half as his left foot gave Ireland balance at the back. Got on the ball a lot and showed his range of passing.’
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Buzz.ie: ‘Liam Scales – Two caps and an easy night for the former Shamrock Rovers man, who can build on his experience this week when he returns to Celtic for some more Premiership and Champions League action. 6’
Irish Mirror: ‘Liam Scales 6 – Retained ahead of Nathan Collins and didn’t put a foot wrong but had little to do.’
Independent: ‘Liam Scales – 6
‘Like Duffy, was untroubled by the opposition who was without a goal in their previous seven games. A quiet shift at left centre-back on his second cap but did what he needed to do when called upon.’
As well as looking forward to seeing club football return this weekend against Hearts, the Celtic support will also be keen to see if Scales can keep up his rich vein of form for the club.
At this rate, Scales is certainly one of the first names on the Celtic team sheet. His performances in Europe and domestically have made him virtually undroppable.
Another stern test awaits Scales and Celtic at Tynecastle on Sunday afternoon and the Hoops supporters will be keeping their fingers crossed for another great performance from him and another three points to keep them clear at the top of the league table.
In other news, Celtic now want to sign £12m player who even Jude Bellingham struggles against