Celtic new boy Shane Duffy has been warned he risks losing his place in the Ireland team because he’s playing in Scotland.
The defender scored on his debut for the Hoops at Ross County but former Republic of Ireland star Gary Breen has concerns over his level, reports The Daily Record.
Breen - who earned 63 caps for his country - believes Duffy will get into double figures for goals this season because of who he is up against, but insists he won’t be tested at all.
And he’s sensationally claimed that not a single striker in the Scottish Premiership would get into an English Premier League team.
He told Off The Ball: “If he doesn't score double figures, I'll be amazed.
"For Celtic, I think it is a brilliant signing and he could go down as a club legend as they go for this 10 In A Row season."
"This is a brilliant move for Celtic but the quality of player he is playing against now will be a big concern for Ireland.
"He is not going to be up against quality centre-forwards. There is no centre-forward in Scotland who would play in a Premier League team. None.
"He is going to be playing against lesser quality and that is a concern."
Breen didn’t stop there and also claimed that Duffy would drop levels as well and insists Virgil van Dijk moved to England with bad habits because he played in Scotland.
He reckons the Liverpool defender - now believed to be the best centre back in the world - would regularly make positional mistakes because he didn’t need to be top class in Scotland.
He added: "If you consider that he has played in the Premier League, he was playing against top-class strikers there all the time. He can cope against these players.
"He might pick up a few bad habits [in Scotland], not because he is lazy but that he isn't up against quality centre-forwards.
"Even the likes of Virgil van Dijk came down to Southampton from Celtic with dreadful habits. He wouldn't get into the right positions quickly enough because he didn't have to with Celtic."
