Kris Boyd has criticised Celtic defender Shane Duffy and Rangers centre-back Filip Helander in The Scottish Sun.
Boyd, who now works as a pundit for Sky Sports, was not impressed by the displays of Rangers central defender Helander and Celtic man Duffy in the Europa League on Thursday evening.
Disappointing displays
The Gers conceded three goals in Portugal, as Steven Gerrard’s side played out a 3-3 draw with Benfica.
Helander, signed from Bologna in the summer of 2019 for a transfer fee reported by The Scottish Sun to be worth £3.5 million, was responsible for two of the goals that Benfica scored and had a game to forget.
Meanwhile, Celtic went down 4-1 to Sparta Prague at Celtic Park, with Duffy, signed on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion in the summer of 2020, having a very disappointing game.
The Daily Record described the defender’s performance on Thursday evening as a ‘nightmare’, as the Republic of Ireland international was at fault for three of the goals that Celtic conceded.
Kris Boyd’s take
Boyd wrote in The Scottish Sun: “They are going through a bad spell — although not quite at the Duffy level. I thought Filip Helander’s horror show against Benfica was the worst defensive display in Europe I’d watched in years.
“Yet two hours later, the Republic of Ireland captain had trumped his Rangers counterpart. Duffy got the runaround from a former Kilmarnock team-mate of mine, David Moberg Karlsson. Lennon had a go at ex-Ireland defender Gary Breen recently for saying that moving to Celtic would harm Duffy’s international career.
“Breen has been spot on, though not in the way he imagined. He felt Scottish football would not be enough of a test for the defender. Our game is far harder than people give it credit for. There will be better players than Duffy who toil up here.”
Need to improve
Both Helander and Duffy had bad games on Thursday evening, but they are experienced enough to be critical of themselves and will be looking to perform much better when they are back in action this weekend.
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