Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is one of the happiest men in football right now after his side beat Rangers 3-0 in The Old Firm Derby last weekend.
The pressure, history, and importance on that fixture is a heavy burden for any team to carry, so to pass that test with flying colours will have the Irishman bouncing into training all week with optimism.
The mood in Celtic park has been buoyant one since the transfer window closed, because the Scottish champions enjoyed a really fruitful summer that has seen a lot of promising players join the club, however, it is Ireland’s Liam Scales that caught Rodgers’ eye on Sunday.
Despite the club purchasing left-sided United States international centre-back Auston Trusty, with the view of forming a partnership with international team-mate Cameron Carter-Vickers – Scales performance against Rangers was a clear statement that he is not willing to relinquish his place in the starting team.
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What’s important is the squad,” Rodgers said. “I don’t know where we would have been without Liam last year.
“When he came in and played away at Ibrox and all the challenges that he has had from a player that was maybe going to leave. He is such an important member of this squad.
“But we knew if we are going to go deep in competitions and challenge and be able to recover players, we had to get that quality into the building.
“Thankfully we have been able to do that. I asked for that with the club and the club has been first class at bringing players in and at the level we want.
“That will hopefully serve us well going forward.”
Speculation around Scales’ future at the club has been going on since last season, but it is clear that Rodgers is looking to build a strong squad, rather than just having a strong starting team.
With aspirations of making the Champions League knockout stages, as well as being competitive in all of the domestic trophies, the Celtic boss is going to need as many options as possible, and the Wicklow native has certainly made himself a very favourable option following recent performances.