Rodgers urges Nicholson over defender deal

Brendan Rodgers has instructed the Celtic board to get Liam Scales signed up onto a new contract.

The defender signed a four year deal when he moved from Shamrock Rovers in August 2021 but spent last season on loan at Aberdeen.

During the summer Celtic spent around £8m on Maik Nawrocki and Gus Lagerbielke but a run of injuries opened the door to Scales who starred in the 1-0 win at Ibrox in September.

That was the second in a run of 15 consecutive matches that the Irishman has started with his partnership with Cameron Carter-Vickers now the first choice pairing in central defence.

Scales will be on a fairly modest salary reflecting his status coming in from the League of Ireland with Rodgers telling the Daily Record of his intentions for the 25-year-old:

I think it’s something that I’m sure the club and his representative will look at. It doesn’t sit with me so well when players are going down to the final stages of their contracts. I think you only need to look at the fact that I’ve chosen him to play very consistently in games.

There are also players back now fit that are pushing him but he’s still performing to a high level. As I said to him, it’s about consistency. Keep showing that you can be consistent and stay focused but there’s no doubt that he’s stepped in and done really well.

With Scales climbing the ladder there could be some departures coming in January with Yuki Kobayashi and Lagerbielke both looking unlikely to see much in the way of first team action.