O’Shea hails Celtic defender Duffy following mentor role on international duty
West Brom defender Dara O’Shea has credited Celtic’s Shane Duffy for acting as a mentor to him while on international duty with Ireland.
The Baggies centre-back was selected to start when Ireland took on Serbia on Wednesday night, with Duffy missing out due to his poor run of form in Glasgow.
However the Brighton loanee willingly offered his support to 22-year old O’Shea, who had only featured four times for Ireland prior to facing Serbia.
As reported by OTB Sports, O’Shea praised Duffy for giving him tactical “tips and advice” prior to the game, however the Boys in Green ultimately fell to a 3-2 defeat.
O’Shea said: “Shane Duffy has been great with me all week. He has been giving me little tips and advice, and when somebody with that much experience and quality speaks, you listen.
“For him to be so understanding and so supportive was great for me, and it gave me a boost in confidence.
“It was more tactical stuff and being a leader in the back three, you’ve got to command it, you’re the middle presence there so you’ve got to make it felt throughout the team.”
Purple patch
Dara O’Shea has been enjoying a small run of form for West Brom over the past few weeks so it is great to hear he is relishing the opportunity on the international stage too.
Albion have conceded just twice in their last five games, and their recent solidity at the back has coincided with O’Shea having replaced Semi Ajayi in the backline for Sam Allardyce’s team.
Coming up against such opponents as Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Wilfried Zaha in recent weeks, WyScout stats see the Irishman as having won 79.17% of his aerial duels over the past five games, while he also averaged 6.2 interceptions and 13 possession recoveries per game in this timeframe.
The 22-year old has grown in confidence tremendously and that serves him in good stead ahead of next season, assuming he doesn’t jump ship once Albion hit the drop.
We’ll need to build a squad of hungry young talent that can help propel the club back into the top flight at the first time of asking, and O’Shea is someone who could lead a team like that from the back if he continues to develop and progress.
In other West Brom news, Sam Johnstone has asked Fantasy Premier League to leave an Albion joke out of an interview.
Be sure to follow West Brom News on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on the Baggies and more exclusive interviews with Kevin Phillips.