Brighton vow to get Shane Duffy 'back on his feet' after disastrous Celtic spell

Brighton manager Graham Potter vows to get Shane Duffy “back on his feet” after the defender returned early from his disastrous loan spell at Celtic.

Shane Duffy's departure from Celtic was confirmed on Friday. Picture: SNS

The Scottish Premiership side made the decision to end the Irish international’s loan deal early after it was discovered he’d be unavailable for the last two games of the season through injury.

Duffy, a boyhood Celtic fan, arrived at Parkhead with much fanfare due to his wealth of experience playing in the English Premier League. However, his underwhelming performances meant he soon became the poster boy for Celtic’s nightmare of a season.

Earlier on Friday, the 29-year-old posted a message on his Instagram page thanking the fans for their support in what he called a “tough year on and off the park”.

This sentiment was echoed by Potter as he welcomed the player back into the fold for the end of the English Premier League season.

The Seagulls manager said: "He's had a tough time, I would say. Sometimes in football things don't go as you want them to go. Shane's had some tough challenges off the pitch, losing his father just before he went to Celtic was a huge challenge for him, as you can imagine.

"From our perspective, he's always welcome here, he's been a fantastic servant for this club, well-liked in the dressing room, so it's important for us now to help him get back on his feet and to put him in an environment where he feels secure and enjoys his football and that's what we will try to do for the next couple of weeks.”

Duffy still has two years left on his contract and Potter reveals there will be discussions as to whether he wants to stay and fight for his place on England’s south coast or seek first-team football elsewhere.

He added: "He's like quite a few guys, we have to sit down and plan and see where everybody is at because some players feel that they need to go and play and some players are happy being here.

"But now is not really the time to think about that; it's a time to finish off the season well. Shane will be training with us and supporting the guys like he does all of the time."

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