28-Year-Old Earns O’Neill Praise After St Mirren Win: How Important Is He For The Club?

28-Year-Old Earns O’Neill Praise After St Mirren Win: How Important Is He For The Club? Celtic’s 28-year-old defender Liam Scales endured a strange night at St Mirren, yet finished it as one of Martin O’Neill’s key performers in a 2-1 comeback win on Saturday. Scales conceded a penalty after the ball struck his hand, allowing Nikolas Agrafiotis to put the hosts ahead in the 22nd minute. Six minutes after half-time, though, he repaired the damage by rising above the defence to head Benjamin Nygren’s corner beyond the goalkeeper. The Ireland international started at left-back for the second straight match because Kieran Tierney remains injured. O’Neill then spoke warmly about his contribution, praising his commitment and calling his display “absolutely fantastic”. The remarks came through Celtic Shorts ’ report of the manager’s post-match media conference, with the match details independently confirmed by RTÉ, Sky Sports and Celtic’s official report. “I love Scales. I think he’s great. I think Scales is great.” “I think that last week he went and played left back. He’s a centre-half and yet we’re asking him almost to play like a wide left-hand side player at times. “That he is not, but he has got a massive heart. He’s been brilliant. A couple of times I’ve been here, he’s been absolutely fantastic. Really, really fantastic. “I said to him the last game we played, I don’t know what the club would do without him.” Celtic now have a player who offers something coaches value enormously when injuries start dictating a squad, and that’s certainty. Scales prefers centre-back, yet O’Neill has asked him to operate from the flank, where the job demands different movement, positioning and support for attacks. He won’t suddenly become a natural attacking full-back, and O’Neill openly recognised that point, but the defender keeps accepting the assignment and gives the manager another way to balance his team. Celtic have found a useful defensive safety net GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – JULY 25: Liam Scales of Celtic in action against AC Milan during Celtic v AC Milan in a pre-season friendly at Celtic Park on July 25, 2026 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images) That matters with Europa League football approaching and Tierney unavailable. Scales’ 2025/26 workload supports the argument too: 44 appearances across competitions show how heavily Celtic already relied on him. His current campaign began late because suspension kept him out of the opening two matches, yet he has returned with two starts and one goal. The St Mirren equaliser is extra valuable because it came after his mistake, when the match still demanded a response. Celtic can trust Scales in two positions Criticism of his distribution will never disappear completely, but judging Scales only through his passing misses the larger point. He gives O’Neill centre-back cover, left-back cover and genuine aerial threat at set pieces, which reduces the need to overload the bench with specialist defenders. That flexibility can free up another place for midfielders or forwards on matchday, giving O’Neill more attacking options without weakening his defensive cover during a packed schedule. His 14 Ireland caps further underline his standing, while his latest goal showed composure after an awkward first half. For Celtic , that combination is seriously valuable as the fixtures pile up.