It seems Jonny Hayes is a left-back for Celtic these days.
Livingston boss Gary Holt has admitted to BBC Sport that Celtic winger Jonny Hayes performed well in a makeshift defensive role, but believes that Kilmarnock exploited him during Sunday’s clash at Rugby Park.
Celtic grabbed a last-minute winner through Scott Brown as Brendan Rodgers’s side snatched a 1-0 win and opened up an eight-point cushion at the top of the Premiership.
With Kieran Tierney still injured, Rodgers continued with the Irish winger at left-back instead of Emilio Izaguirre and a lot of Killie’s attacks stemmed from that side.
“Jonny Hayes isn’t a left-back. He’s doing a good job there,” Holt said to BBC Sport.
“But Killie seem to have identified it and every time they get the ball they try and go down the right and it’s an avenue that’s working for them so far.”
Hayes, a £1.3 million signing from Aberdeen in 2017 [Express], did indeed give a good account of himself, although Steve Clarke’s side did seem to be getting some joy out of him at times.
The Republic of Ireland international, who has only started three Premiership games this season, will be making the most of his chance in the first XI because, well, he’ll be out of it again once Tierney returns.
But the fact that he has climbed above Izaguirre, a recognised and experienced left-back, to become Rodgers’s second-choice option is illustrative of just how well Hayes has done in recent weeks.
Kirk Broadfoot was sent off on 75 minutes for a rash challenge on Brown, who also received his marching orders shortly after the wild celebrations with Celtic fans following his last-gasp winner.
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