Kenny admits Celtic’s Liam Scales unlucky to not yet get Ireland cap

Macdara Ferris reports from the Aviva Stadium

Liam Scales is a player that Stephen Kenny is very familiar with and the Republic of Ireland manager admitted that the Celtic defender has been unlucky to yet make his debut at senior international level for the Boys in Green.

Kenny was talking about the 25-year-old defender at the squad announcement for the upcoming EURO 2024 qualifiers against Greece and Gibraltar.

It is a squad that includes Scales, a player Kenny went to watch play in Europe this week and whom he capped at under-21 level previously and has included in senior squads without him gaining a cap.

“When Liam was at UCD we capped him with the under-21 international team ahead of players who were playing at Premier League clubs at that time,” said Kenny. “We brought him to the Toulon tournament at that time and he had a good tournament.

"He's been in the [senior] squad a few times and not made a debut yet and he's been a bit unfortunate.”

Kenny was in Glasgow on Wednesday night to watch Scales play in Celtic’s 2-1 Champions League loss to Lazio.

The Wicklow man also played in Europe last month against Feyenoord as he enjoys an extended run of starts in Celtic’s first team under manager Brendan Rogers.

Reflecting on recent seasons for Scales, Kenny said: "He did terrific at Shamrock Rovers [winning two league titles] and had a very good season with Aberdeen [on loan from Celtic last year].

"Initially under [then Celtic manager] Ange Postecoglou, he played actually two games in Europe at left-back that we watched back recently, and he could certainly do that no problem.

"He had a very good season with Aberdeen last year, mainly playing as left of a back three, and now he's playing as a centre-half in a back two for Celtic and playing very well, so it's a credit to him."

Looking ahead to the upcoming home game against Greece, extratime.com asked Kenny about his expectations of the opponents his team will face.

"Greece are a fine team. Holland found themselves 3-0 up at half-time [against Greece], but it wasn't a 3-0 game. It shows the importance of set pieces. Holland scored from a set play and then played very well in Amsterdam that night.

"Greece had a good game with France (losing in Paris 1-0) and had a convincing win against Gibraltar (a 5-0 home victory). They are a good team and one we have to make sure we are ready for. It’s an important game for us."

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— Extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) October 5, 2023