John Barnes has backed Shane Duffy to succeed at Celtic despite having a rocky start to his Hoops career.
Duffy arrived on loan from Brighton this summer but has failed to adapt to Scottish football just yet and was dropped by Neil Lennon on Sunday as Celtic defeated Motherwell.
Former Celts boss Barnes has defended the Irish international, but he does reckon there's more to come from the central defender.
He said: "Duffy’s loan move from Brighton came with plenty of excitement and rightly so. I don’t think he’s had a hard time adapting, or adjusting, to the club; he’s played well.
"He’s joined a team that have lost a number of matches, and that’s never fun, and it’s easy to blame the ’new boy'. It’s strange times just now and you also play without any crowd, which is starting to impact the players more and more.
"But Shane Duffy is a good player so once Celtic find that much needed consistency, I think he’ll play an important role this season.”
On the importance of Scott Brown to Celtic, Barnes added: "He's been a Celtic stalwart for many years. And of course at his age now maybe his performance is not going to be what it used to be, but he still has a huge influence on the dressing room, particularly if things aren't going well.
"Of course it's easy when you don't need leaders when you're winning every week. But now, as Celtic are going through a rough patch, and struggling, this is when you need leaders in the dressing room, who've got the experience to carry you through. Scott Brown is still the man. So yeah, he's a little bit harshly treated, in my opinion.”
John Barnes was speaking to bonuscodebets.co.uk
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