Liam Scales reveals Celtic’s inspiration as they head to Lisbon for Benfica test

Liam Scales pinpointed Celtic’s 3-1 victory away to Feyenoord last November as a source of inspiration ahead of Thursday’s formidable Europa League clash with Benfica in Lisbon.

The Portuguese side are one of the favourites to win the tournament and have already dished out a 6-1 thrashing to the Hoops’ William Hill Premiership rivals Hearts at Estadio da Luz this term.

Celtic, by contrast, have endured a dismal European campaign so far, losing to LASK in the Champions League play-off before a 3-1 defeat at home to Ferencvaros in their Europa opener.

“It doesn’t get much more difficult in the Europa League than this next one,” said defender Scales. “Benfica away is a tough, tough game.

“It has been disappointing so far in Europe this season so we need to really try and do better.

“But we went to Feyenoord last season and showed what we can do so we can try and replicate how we played in that game.

“When it comes to European fixtures that is a reference for us. That was really, really good, that night, so what’s what we will be hoping to do.”

Celtic head to Portugal buoyed by a much-needed 2-0 victory at Motherwell on Sunday after an acrimonious three-week international break in which they were cast as a club in crisis following a three-game losing streak.

When asked if the break came at a good time, Scales said: “Maybe in hindsight, yes. But at the time I felt it came at a bad time because we went into two weeks off after coming off the back of bad results.

“But it has given people some respite. People got some time off to go and rest and recover so it has given us a bit of energy.

“I feel players went away and enjoyed their couple of weeks and have come back with more confidence.

“I felt that was noticeable on Sunday. We had young lads making their debuts for teams like Germany (Mika Baur) and Colombia (Camilo Duran), so I think the break boosted the mood, and it was needed.

“We’re just happy to be back with games coming thick and fast for the next couple of weeks.

“It felt like we were back to what we want to be after a tough spell before the international window.”

With Auston Trusty on the bench after feeling ill following international duty and Cameron Carter-Vickers missing out with a strain, Dane Murray, 23, stepped in to produce a strong display alongside Scales at centre-back.

“Dane is brilliant, he’s got all the attributes,” said Scales. “He had a couple of really tough years with injuries when he was younger that probably held him back.

“You probably would have seen a lot more of him had it not been for those injuries. But he’s come through them and he’s got incredible attributes.

“He’s big, strong, quick and good on the ball. He can defend and it’s good to play alongside him. Considering he hasn’t played a lot, you don’t feel it’s an inexperienced player beside you. He will do really well.”