Andy Halliday defends what he is hearing about Liam Scales despite Celtic winning again

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Liam Scales has lost his place in Celtic’s starting XI this season.

It wasn’t so long ago that Scales was on loan at Aberdeen and he was seen as an outside squad player at Celtic Park.

But then, Brendan Rodgers returned to Glasgow last term, he had some injuries to contend with early on, especially at centre-back, and it opened the door for Scales to start matches.

The 26-year-old became a regular feature at the heart of Celtic’s defence, alongside Cameron Carter-Vickers, and many felt he had a breakthrough season.

But, in the summer, Rodgers was keen to further enhance the defence and Celtic brought in Auston Trusty for big money and he is now the main man alongside Carter-Vickers.

At the start of the campaign, Trusty and Scales were battling for starting spots, but the latter is now only used from the bench, as was the case during Celtic’s win over St Mirren on Saturday.

READ MORE: Three winners and one loser as Celtic beat St Mirren, including super sub Hyunjun Yang

Liam Scales dubbed ‘rotten’ for Celtic performances

Trusty had to go off injured in the first half and Scales was introduced into the action, as he proceeded to give away a foul on the edge of the box that resulted in St Mirren’s equalising goal.

It wasn’t the best of starts for the Irishman because he then watched Toyosi Olusanya cause him many issues throughout the game.

That’s why a Celtic fan labelled Scales as a ‘rotten’ player and how he has become ‘sick of seeing him’, as he told Clyde 1 Superscoreboard.

But Andy Halliday was quick to defend Celtic’s back-up centre-back by stating that the criticism is ‘harsh’, and instead, praise should go to the opposition.

“He was at fault for the goal last week and he is just overall a rotten player,” stated the Celtic fan. “I am just sick of seeing him.”

Halliday responded: “I think it is harsh, for me. In terms of the defensive structure of Celtic, we talked about the Rangers and the Motherwell game. Sometimes, the other team don’t get the credit they deserve.

“In terms of the spectacle we watched. I thought St Mirren played very well. I thought they were really unlucky not to go in at half-time in the lead. I thought they put Celtic under enormous pressure.”

Scales’ stats for Celtic against St Mirren

Celtic have been conceding goals on the road far too easily since the turn of the year, so this just isn’t a Scales problem, but an issue Rodgers has to address.

Even though Celtic shipped two and Scales gave away a free-kick, he was still handed a healthy 6.89 rating by WhoScored.

It remains to be seen what the issue is with Trusty and if he will be fit for Celtic’s Scottish Cup clash against Hibernian.

But if Scales wants to find that form again, then the only way to do it is by earning regular starts.