Celtic loanee Liam Scales has recently enjoyed an upturn in form with temporary side Aberdeen, who sit 3rd place in the Scottish Premiership.
Jim Goodwin’s side has made a strong start to the campaign, picking up four wins in their last five matches, including victories against Hearts and Motherwell.
The Dons also secured a semi-final place at Hampden Park, where they will face Rangers in January after a comfortable 4-1 win over Partick Thistle last week.
Their recent good form has coincided with the Aberdeen manager switching up his formation and playing a back three in defence.
And a crucial part of that defensive backline is on-loan Celtic man Liam Scales, who has offered Goodwin plenty of versatility in defence.
The 24-year-old has played across the left-hand side of the backline as part of a central defensive back three or four and has even had minutes as a left-back this season.
In a recent interview, the Irishman was asked about his versatility for Aberdeen, and he opened up on his enjoyment of playing different systems.
He said [Press and Journal]: “It suits me, I enjoy playing in a back four, but I’ve played in a three before, and so have Anthony Stewart and Ross McCrorie.
“It suits us and gives us another way of playing depending on how the opposition sets up. We have players that are capable.
“You just have to get on with it and be prepared to play both systems. We have players who can do that.
“It can suit us playing a back three because Ross played centre-back a lot last season, and Anthony played in a back three at Wycombe in the middle of the three.
“I played in the left side of the three in Ireland for two years at Shamrock Rovers. We all have experience in that formation. It is good to be versatile because certain teams might challenge you in different ways, and it might suit to play a five or go to a four.”
This weekend, the Pittodrie side are looking to build upon their recent form as they travel to take on Celtic’s Glasgow rivals, Rangers.
As a former member of Ange Postecoglou’s squad, you would imagine Scales is relishing the opportunity to face the Ibrox side, who aren’t having the best of times under Giovanni Van Bronckhorst at this moment.
Speaking ahead of his return to Glasgow on Saturday, Scales admitted the mood is high in the Aberdeen camp as they look to catch a tired Rangers side out after their European midweek trip.
He said [Red TV]: “The mood’s good at the moment; obviously, we’ve got the three wins off the back of a poor result against Dundee, and we needed to have a good week, and we have, so the mood’s high.”
“They’re a top side, and we’ve got to be at our very best, so we’re preparing for it now. We know they play during the week, so hopefully, with fresh legs, we can go there to win the game.”
Rejuvenated Scales will be looking to help aid Celtic’s title charge whilst at Aberdeen.
After a bit of a frustrating first 12 months at Parkhead, Liam Scales is now back enjoying his football once again under Jim Goodwin at Pittodrie.
Whilst the Dons have already admitted their desire to sign the former Shamrock Rovers man, there has been no clear indication of what the future holds for Scales as a Celtic player.
But I am sure the left-sided defender will still be looking to aid his current and parent side this weekend when they take on Rangers at Ibrox.
Just last week, our rivals suffered a surprise 1-1 draw at home against Livingston. So, you would imagine Goodwin is holding out hope his side can produce a similar performance/result.
If they do want to take anything out of that game, Scales is likely going to have to play a big part at the centre of defence as they look to keep up their recent run of form.
In other news, Livi boss hints at ‘aggressive’ tactical tweak as Martindale makes Celtic claim.
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