Irish football manager Shane Keegan has questioned why Celtic centre-back Liam Scales didn’t get any minutes for Ireland over the international break ahead of Everton’s Seamus Coleman.

The 26-year-old was called into the squad for new manager Heimer Halgrimsson’s first few games at the helm but wasn’t picked to play.

Indeed, Scales was left on the bench for Ireland’s 2-0 defeat to England in Dublin on Saturday night, and once more didn’t feature when his country were beaten by Greece on Tuesday evening.

Keegan, who has previously taken charge of Galway United and Cobh Ramblers, was particularly shocked that the centre-back didn’t feature versus the English.

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Ireland played a back five, and Keegan thinks Scales should have got the nod in defence over stalwart Coleman.

“If you’re playing three at the back then the left-sided centre-half has to be left-footed,” he told The 42.

“We’re not stuck for a left-footed player to play in that role at the moment. Liam Scales is flying it. Ok you can argue the merits of the level that he’s playing at, but he had just come out of the Rangers game where he had played extremely well.

“What could possibly suggest from what Liam Scales is doing at the moment that he wasn’t good enough to be in that starting 11 vs England?

“If you have a left-footed option and don’t want to play him, you need to have a serious reason not to.

“As an outside player in a back three, is Liam Scales not a better defender than Seamus Coleman? Obviously, Seamus is a better option as a full back, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around that one.”

Scales will be hoping to win back his place in the Irish side when they travel to face Finland and Greece next month.