Shane Duffy has shared an emotional tribute to his late father on the anniversary of his passing.

The former Celtic defender's dad Brian passed away unexpectedly at the age of just 53 a year ago today and the Irishman admitted it has been an extremely difficult 365 days without him.

Sharing a heart-warming photo of a newborn in his dad's arms, Duffy left a poignant note in remembrance on Instagram. He said: "One year ago today my whole life changed forever been a tough ride without you bigman miss you everyday keep looking after us all up there," accompanied with a love-heart emoji.

The photo was liked more than 8,000 times after it was shared earlier this afternoon.

Fans and friends were quick to share their own messages of condolence and support for the Brighton player. One said: "Thinking of you brother". Another added: "Thinking of you amigo! Always supporting you."

Duffy, 29, did not have the easiest time in Glasgow during Celtic's nightmare season.

We told how his Ireland teammate Seamus Coleman backed his pal and revealed a reason for his form could well have been down to the year of his life without Brian and potentially being unable to grieve properly. He said: "Shane Duffy is a warrior, Shane Duffy is a leader, I think all us Irish people have seen that over the years with his performances.

"Listen, he’s not had the easiest time over in Scotland. I’ve watched the games that he’s played and I don’t think Shane Duffy is the reason why things aren’t going the way they wanted up there, there’s a lot of other reasons, I’m sure, for it.

"I don’t know if he’ll mind me saying this or not, but Shane Duffy’s dad passed away last summer and not long after his dad died, he was straight back on a plane for Brighton and straight up to Celtic, and they’re the little things that I don’t think people take into account.

"I don’t know if he will even have had the opportunity to mourn his dad properly. This football bubble is so important – ‘Yeah, you’ve got to get back to work, you’ve got to get back to Brighton…’.

"For me, a lot of that has to be taken into account too, and we all need to bear that in mind because the lad would do anything for his club or his country.

"He doesn’t sulk, he’s a great character around the place, he’s a warrior and he had a tough time, and jumped on a plane to get back to work, maybe quicker than most people would, so I think Shane Duffy has done enough. He has enough credit in the bank for his country for us to keep supporting him."