Ireland defender Ciaran Clark has voiced his support for Shane Duffy after the centre-back has had the year from hell at Celtic.
Duffy, on loan from Brighton until the end of the season, was signed to dominate Scottish football’s powerful strikers. That was supposed to be a major piece in the 10-in-a-row puzzle. Instead, we’re 20 points behind our rivals whilst Duffy has gone from disaster to disaster.
The Brighton man has failed to feature ins even of our last nine league fixtures. His form has been so poor that Lennoxtown graduate Stephen Welsh has leapfrogged him in the pecking order. Who could’ve imagined that back in September?
Duffy has recently been called up to the Republic of Ireland squad by manager Stephen Kenny. Ireland will face a World Cup qualifying double-header against Serbia and Luxembourg before a friendly vs Qatar. And Clark is backing Duffy to get his confidence flowing again for his country.
As quoted by BT Sport, Clark said: “Everyone knows what he brings. He’s a real quality defender who leaves everything on the pitch and will head and clear anything that comes his way. He is a player with a lot of experience and everyone knows what he can do. He is a top-quality player.
“I feel we had a good partnership at a stage, but it’s part of football that players get injured and other players come in and play and do well. You have to keep pushing and keep going and fight to get back into the squad.
“With Duffer, there wouldn’t be an issue as we played and trained together enough. It’s about coming into it and trying to train well and get prepared for two massive games.”
Ireland relief for Shane Duffy; but there’s no coming back from his Celtic collapse
There’s no doubt that heading off on international duty is a relief for Duffy. It gets him away from the intense scrutiny he receives in Scotland for his abysmal campaign.
And any Celtic fan hoping will be wishing him well. If he can perform well against Serbia and Luxembourg in particular, it will hopefully give his confidence a much-needed boost. Because that’s been Duffy’s issue all season – morale.
He’s is nowhere near as bad a player as what he’s shown in Scotland. He knows how to defend cross-balls. He knows how to dominate opposition strikers. Dominating in the air is what he does for fun at times. So why all of these traits haven’t been on show this season can only be down to confidence.
It’s clear Duffy isn’t going to get much game-time between now and the summer. At least not for Celtic. Therefore, this triple-header of fixtures gives him a chance to build up both his fitness and his confidence. It should stand him in good stead for his Brighton return in the summer.
Because there is no turning around his Celtic form or his career here. He’s had far too many chances for us to start going down that route of wishful thinking.
It all starts for Shane tomorrow night when the Republic travel to Serbia. Here’s hoping he can get the bit of luck he’s long overdue.
In other news, Celtic should look to bring in this exciting 19-year-old who would thrive under Enzo Maresca.
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