Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has stressed the importance of Liam Scales to his squad after the Republic of Ireland defender stepped up with a big performance against Rangers following the arrival of fresh competition.Scales delivered a strong display in central defence as the William Hill Premiership champions beat their rivals 3-0 on Sunday.Celtic had bought left-sided United States international centre-back Auston Trusty two days earlier and the former Sheffield United player will be looking to form a partnership with international team-mate Cameron Carter-Vickers.But Scales' performance showed the Wicklow man has no intention of relinquishing his place.The 26-year-old looked like he was on his way out of Celtic following a season-long loan at Aberdeen but he broke into the first team 12 months ago following injuries to the likes of Carter-Vickers and Maik Nawrocki.A clean sheet and exceptional display against Rangers at Ibrox set the tone for the season as Scales made 45 appearances to help Celtic to double glory as well as establishing himself in his national team.
He was named as part of Heimir Hallgrímsson's first Ireland squad for the Nations League double-header against England and Greece.Rodgers allowed Gustaf Lagerbiekle and Yuki Kobayashi to depart in the transfer window while Nawrocki looks likely to be on the fringes after an injury-hit first 12 months in Glasgow.But Scales appears to have a central role to play."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.