Insane Liam Scales stat shows how good Irish defender has been for Celtic

Since returning to Celtic on loan from Aberdeen in 2023, Irish defender Liam Scales has become a key player for the Hoops.

Having only made 13 appearances for Celtic prior to that loan spell, Scales has played 53 times for the Glasgow giants and scored 8 goals in a little over a year.

His fine form led to a call-up with the International side, and the former UCD and Shamrock Rovers star has been capped five times for the Republic of Ireland.

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While positive Irish soccer stories are few and far between, Scales is one of the few Irish players that can say he's playing some of the best football of his life.

And the numbers back it up as well. Scales has played every minute of Celtic's six Scottish Premiership games so far this season, and in that time, Celtic are yet to concede a goal.

In the eight games that Scales has played in all competitions this season, the Irishman has been part of a defence that has conceded just two goals. The second of those two goals came in the 5-1 Champions League victory over Slovan Bratislava a fortnight ago, a full month on from the first.

The giant defender has proven a menace in the opposition box as well this season, bagging two goals for himself - the same amount which he has conceded in total.

Scales and Celtic face their toughest test of the season by far on Tuesday evening when they travel to the Signal Iduna Park to take on last season's Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund. Ahead of the game, Scales has spoken about how he prepares for such a big game in an iconic stadium.

“It’s a great European stadium, how many seats has it got? About 80,000 seats. That’s brilliant.“That’ll probably be the biggest I’ll have played in and it means a lot. I’ll take it all in for that minute before the game. Then get down to business“We have the same in Celtic Park. It can suffocate teams but we know what it’s like to play in an atmosphere like that.

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“I think we’re well equipped based on what we’ve played in at Celtic Park and even going to Ibrox, that can be hostile, so we’re quite ready for that.“For me, you get a minute before the game when the anthems are playing and you’re lining up and we’ll do the huddle. Then you can take in the atmosphere.“But once the game starts it doesn’t really affect you as much as you think because you’re so focused on what’s going on on the pitch.“I’ll take a minute while we’re lining up and coming out to take it all in because it’s obviously an amazing stadium and a great team, so I can’t wait. It’s something I usually do just to be calm going into the game.“Just take a few deep breaths and then you’re ready. That would be something I’ve always done.”

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