celtics Last weekend, the team needed a late equalizer from new signing Junior Adamu to avoid being eliminated in the last 16 of the FA Cup.

Ethan Hamilton’s second-half screamer had Dundee looking set to reach the last eight, but the Freiburg loanee brilliantly put the ball into the back of the net.

Sebastian Tounekti scored the winning goal shortly after the start of overtime as the Hoops won 2-1 to set up a quarter-final clash with Rangers.

While Hamilton’s goal for Dundee was a special one, Liam Scales’ first-pass attack from Cameron Congreve and his defending against Hamilton were questionable.

The Ireland international failed to challenge Congreve and then gave the former Manchester United midfielder all the space he needed, switching the ball to his left foot for a relatively unchallenged shot from distance.

Why Celtic may need to part with Liam Scales

Martin O’Neill He may have to remove the left-footed defender from the wing in the coming weeks due to his recent performances in the team. scottish premier league giant.

The former Aberdeen loanee’s performances in the Premier League have particularly declined compared to the 2024/25 season, as he has struggled in ground duels, losing 51% of his ground duels this season.

Scales is losing a higher percentage of duels on the ground and in the air than last season, suggesting he’s a yard or two behind on pace this season.

In addition to his poor performance in confrontations, the Irishman has conceded 30 possessions in total in his last three Premier League and Europa League games. He was sometimes too sloppy with the ball at his feet, often giving the ball back to his opponents.

A long-term injury to Cameron Carter-Vickers has left two left-footed defenders, Auston Trusty and Scales, as O’Neill’s first-choice partnership, but the manager could end Scales’ career at the club once and for all by releasing a talented young defender in his place.

The defender who could end Skiles’ Celtics career

Taking the Ireland international out of the starting XI and switching to a right-footed centre-back allows trust to move to the left, where he can deliver the ball more naturally.

Dane Murray has been providing cover on the bench in recent months but the Scots youngster has lost three of four games against Falkirk in the Premier League earlier this month and, of course, scored an own goal and was awarded a penalty against Hearts earlier in the season.

However, Celtic signed 20-year-old centre-back Benjamin Arthur on loan from Premier League side Brentford on deadline day, and he could be the player to end Skiles’ career at Parkhead.

He has yet to make his debut for the Hoops as O’Neill did not select him against Dundee, but the youngster appears to have the potential to become an exciting prospect for the Hoops.

Current Dundee manager Steven Pressley worked with Arthur during his time as coach at Brentford. Describing him as a “huge unit” He’s like a “young Virgil van Dijk”, which is a huge comparison considering the former Celtic defender is now Liverpool’s captain.

Arthur has only made three senior appearances in his career so far, so it’s difficult to say whether he can step in and become O’Neill’s version of Van Dijk, but his performance in the Carabao Cup with Brentford this season has been incredible.

The 20-year-old starlet started in the Bee League Cup against Aston Villa and Green Bussey and impressed, but was an unused substitute in the 2-0 defeat to Manchester City.

In these two games in the Carabao Cup, Arthur won 73% of his duels, including 67% of his ground duels, indicating his potential as an upgrade to Skiles, who has lost most of his ground duels in the Premier League.

Considering Pressley’s comments and his statistics at Brentford, the England centre-back appears to be a dominant Van Dijk-esque player who, unlike Skiles this season, doesn’t give attackers much of a chance to beat him physically.

Whether he can become the kind of player Celtic have been in the Premier League and Europa League remains to be seen, but the Hoops signed him for a reason.

O’Neill now needs to release Arthur from the outset over the coming weeks and months, allowing a natural balance of right- and left-footed players in the centre-back pairing, while removing the underperforming Skiles from the eleven.

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The upcoming summer transfer window could be interesting, then, if Scales finds himself left out of the starting XI for Carter-Vickers’ return next season, as it could put his future and career at Parkhead into question.