Martin O'Neill has been gushing over an underrated Celtic star after Saturday's big win over St Mirren. The Bhoys had to come from behind to defeat a Buddies side that went into the game unbeaten, only two points behind their visitors.
But thanks to Liam Scales' header and a confident Yang Hyun-jun finish, Celtic came through unscathed, keeping their 100% league record intact, and they were good value for the win, in truth, having two goals narrowly disallowed for offside after Camilo Duran and Shum Mheuka each put the ball in the back of the net.
O'Neill loves Scales contribution
Yang was superb, now looking to have found his feet after an inconsistent start, and much of the credit this season has been given to new signings. But one player O'Neill wants to see praised is Scales, who once again deputised at left-back due to Kieran Tierney remaining injured.
"I love Scales, I think he is great," said O'Neill. "I think Scales is great... last week he played left-back even though he is a centre-back, and yet we are asking him to play almost like a wide, left-handside player at times - that he is not.
"But he has got massive heart. The couple of times I have been here, as a player he has been absolutely fantastic, really, really fantastic.Liam. I said to him, the last game we played, that I don't know what the club would do without him."
Scales is going to have to play a fair bit at left-back this season due to Celtic only signing a youngster to deputise for Tierney in Landon Emenalo. And curiously, Emenalo was not registered for the Europa League squad, which means Scales is going to have to remain as the main deputy for Tierney, who usually struggles to maintain playing two games per week.
O'Neill would perhaps be wise to favour Scanes when needed in the league and go with Tierney in Europe, with the more dynamic full-back more important in European football, which is a much higher standard.
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