Seamus Coleman has backed 'warrior' Shane Duffy to bounce back from a nightmare season and rediscover his best form on the international stage.
The big defender has had a tough time of it since arriving at Celtic, recently losing his place in the side to 21-year-old Stephen Welsh.
His arrival on the scene coincided with the collapse of the Hoops' Ten In A Row hopes, and he hasn't played for the club since mid-February.
But he's been selected by Ireland for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers with Serbia and Luxembourg.
Manager Stephen Kenny has publicly thrown his support behind the 29-year-old, and now Everton defender Coleman, a close friend of Duffy's, has backed him to come out swinging in Belgrade on Wednesday.
He told the Irish Mirror: "Shane Duffy is a warrior. Shane Duffy is a leader.
"I think all of us Irish people have seen that over the years with his performances and yeah, listen, he's not had the easiest time over in Scotland.
"I've watched the games that he's played and I don't think Shane Duffy is the reason why things aren't going the way they wanted up there, there's a lot of other reasons I'm sure for it."
Shortly before he signed for Celtic, Duffy lost his father Brian, and Coleman believes he may not have had a chance to grieve properly before he was jetting off to Celtic on loan.
He hailed the 'fighting spirit' the 29-year-old showed by getting back to work so quickly after such a heartbreaking loss.
He went on: "Listen, I don't know if he'll mind me saying this or not, but Shane Duffy's dad passed away last summer and not long after his dad died he was straight back on a plane for Brighton and straight up to Celtic.
"And they're the little things that I don't think people take into account.
"I don't know if he even have the opportunity to mourn his dad properly.
“This football bubble is so important - ‘yeah, you’ve got to get back to work, you’ve got to get back to Brighton’...for me, a lot of that has to be taken into account too, and we all need to bear that in mind because the lad would do anything for his club or his country.
“He doesn’t sulk, he’s a great character around the place, he’s a warrior and he had a tough time and jumped on a plane to get back to work, maybe quicker than most people would.
“So I think Shane Duffy has done enough, has enough credit in the bank for his country for us to keep supporting him. As media and as players we should support him.”
