Ex-Rangers captain Barry Ferguson has praised the performances of Celtic’s Liam Scales.

Despite the Hoops losing to Feyenoord midweek, Ferguson was keen to point out that Scales put in a “really good” display, stating that he had made the most of his opportunities in the first team:

“To be fair, watching the game (against Feyenoord), I thought Liam Scales was really good. I thought he was good. Really good. He is a guy who you thought was in Siberia. He was maybe going back to Aberdeen. Never looked like he was going to have a Celtic career.”

“But, one thing about him, is that he defended really well. On the ball, he was composed. That’s what you need when you are away from home in Europe. He was out of the picture (before the start of the season). Sometimes you need that slice of luck with injuries to get that opportunity to show ‘Listen, I might not be a certain starter, week in and week out, but I can have a career at Celtic’.”

Scales is Celtic’s fifth-choice centre-back

Injuries have forced manager Brendan Rodgers into picking the Irishman. The likes of Cameron Carter-Vickers, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Maik Nawrocki and Nat Phillips are arguably all ahead of him in the pecking order when fit.

However, Scales has taken his chance and put in some consistent performances recently. It will be interesting to see what happens when other centre-backs begin returning to fitness.

An update on the fitness of two Celtic players

Nat Phillips is in a race against time to be fit for the Livingston game on Saturday. The Liverpool loanee injured his ankle against Dundee last weekend and was forced off at half-time.

Carter-Vickers is still recovering from a hamstring problem, and he is not expected to be available again before the start of October.