Liam Scales rues dropping two points, but praises teammate Jota
Liam Scales last night gave his thoughts in the wake of yet another below par performance from Celtic, in the 2-2 draw against Dundee United at Celtic Park…
Speaking of his anguish at dropping two points at home to Jim Goodwin’s well drilled side, the Celtic defender acknowledged the ‘sloppy’ first half period where two soft goals were both conceded inside a few minutes. The Irish international as much to blame as his teammates due to some questionable defending , although he wasn’t as quick to point that fact out!
Liam Scales did however make amends by grabbing a second half equaliser to help salvage a point that could, as Martin O’Neill later pointed out, prove to be vital come the end of the season. However it was clearly two points dropped at home and that hasn’t gone down well with the supporters.
Liam Scales was clearly just as frustrated that a winner didn’t come in a second half where Celtic pressure never resulted in anything beyond his own headed goal.
Speaking to CelticPlayer after the game, the Irishman said: “I think we started the game quite well and then had a sloppy 10-15 minutes.
“We’ve dropped two points because of that, so it’s disappointing, but I think we showed a lot of character in the second half to take control of the game.
“The ball just didn’t drop for us at certain times in the box to go and finish the game off and get that winner.”
Portuguese winger Jota who again impressed on his return from injury assisted Liam with his equaliser, providing a superb cross from a quick corner that the Irishman converted in a packed penalty box, and was full of praise for his teammate who’s just come back from such a turbulent injury layoff.
“It’s brilliant to have him back,” Scales said. “You could tell how eager he is to play and to create and go by people.
“He really looks sharp and he’s going to be massive for us now because we have so many games and we’re going to need everyone and he’s going to play a big part hopefully.”
Celtic started with three centre forwards and no wingers, yet when the decision was taken at half time to bring on both Hassan and Jota, instead of leaving Kasper Hogh on to challenge for the ball from crosses from the wing – of which there were plenty – Martin O’Neill opted to move Camilo Duran into the middle. Ultimately it didn’t work.
