Shane Duffy
The 29-year-old had a tough time during his loan spell at Celtic. After a great start to life in Scotland, where he helped Celtic win their five league games and scored two goals in the process, his form dipped. He played the last game of his loan spell in their 2-1 win over St Johnstone on February 14. On top of that, the Republic of Ireland international was also targeted by social media trolls. But Duffy is now hoping to rediscover his best form with Albion next season.
Shane Duffy said: “I think it has been well noted I’ve had a tough time on and off the pitch. I feel that I’ve dealt with it as best I can. I didn’t plan for it to go like this, but that’s the setback I’ve got and I’m big and ugly enough to deal with it and come out the other side. This season is over now, and I feel mentally I’ve turned a page, and I’m not going to stop now. I’m going to keep going through the summer and be ready for pre-season and hit the ground running. I feel I’ve had a year off where I haven’t played my best stuff and I am ready to get that back next season.”
Duffy is currently on international duty with Ireland, where he played the full 90 minutes in their 0-0 draw against Hungary in a friendly, who will compete in the Euros which gets underway tomorrow. However, Duffy who played represented Ireland at Euro, the last time they qualified for a major competition, believes it would be stupid to write off their World Cup hopes just two games into the qualifying campaign.
Shane Duffy said: “You always have that belief. It was only a couple of games played and if you write us off now, it would be stupid, I’d say. We’re just getting going, hopefully, and it’s about the performances turning into results and we’ll shock a few teams hopefully and kick on. We fully believe the manager has the right thing going here and with a little bit of luck with players and Covid and stuff like that, we can kick on.”
