Shane Duffy has opened up on his nightmare spell at Celtic and how he struggled during lockdown, describing it as the lowest point of his life.
The Republic of Ireland international's dad passed away suddenly just months before he moved to the Glasgow club on loan and the defender was away from his children during lockdown in Scotland.
Duffy is back to his best since returning to Brighton, captaining Graham Potter's side in their 1-1 draw with Southampton earlier this month and scoring Ireland's opener against Luxembourg in their final World Cup qualifier in November, reports the Irish Mirror.
Speaking about his time at Celtic, Duffy told The Daily Mail: "It was definitely the lowest I have been. It was hard enough dealing with what had happened to my dad but I also didn’t get to see my kids for a year because I couldn’t fly to Ireland to where they were. It was a lonely time and maybe it did affect me on the pitch.
"Things weren’t going well for the team or me at Celtic so I was probably sitting there on my own doing a bit of over-thinking and that was difficult.
"I try to take a lot from what happened. I think my biggest regret is that it didn’t go well as it meant so much for me to go there. I will probably always live with that. But I have come out the other end.
Shane Duffy (Image: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
"If I hadn’t got that low maybe I wouldn’t have bounced back like I have. It was a difficult year and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. But I am not going to sit and cry about it. I had to deal with it and I tried to do that as best as I could."
Speaking after that Southampton game, Potter praised Duffy for how he turned things around.
The Brighton boss said: “Shane has been amazing this season.
“He’s already said he had a tough time last season when he was away and I've never been so happy for anyone when he scored that goal against Watford – I was buzzing for him.
“He was the captain on Saturday as well, which just shows how much he's managed to turn it around.”
