FORMER Celtic defender Shane Duffy has opened up about his disastrous loan spell at Parkhead last term, admitting that off-field issues caused him to hit "rock bottom" at the club.

The Republic of Ireland internationalist was recruited on a season-long loan deal at great expense and started brightly at his boyhood club before enduring a torrid time on and off the pitch for the remainder of the campaign.

The defender revealed that he was heavily impacted by his father's death and the criticism he received for his performances, and was eventually dropped from the starting line-up altogether - and replaced by Stephen Welsh - in February.

Duffy has since returned to parent club Brighton and played the full 90 minutes of his side's 2-1 win over Burnley in their Premier League curtain-raiser at the weekend, and admits that he is happier being back in familiar surroundings.

Glasgow Times:

The 29-year-old says he is grateful to Seagulls boss Graham Potter for retaining faith in him through his sticky spell - and vowed to prove his critics wrong.

Duffy told Sussex Live: "When you hit rock bottom, that is the reality. A lot was going wrong off the field, which was difficult for me and I had to mentally go through that, and that was tough. So, until you get to that moment, you get there and realise you have got to change something.

"That is what I have done and I am still taking it day by day: to be like an 18-year-old - try and impress every day, try and improve and try and help as much as I can. I feel like if you do that, you get the reward sometimes when maybe you don’t expect it.

"You always think that and after the year I had I was in a really low place and I thought the Premier League is probably over for me. But I have got good people around me and it is the club, the club [Brighton] are so good for me and it feels like home for me.

"When I came back after my loan I had a big relief off my shoulders and I had felt like I had come home again, and the comfort started to come back.

"The lads have been brilliant around me, so there is a little bit in your head that you might not be able to but the character I am, I have been proving people wrong all my career and that is what I have got to again, hit the restart button.

Glasgow Times:

"That is what I have done really. Started from scratch again and try to prove people wrong again it is only one game and a lot can still happen, but as long as I am here I’ll try and help the team. Whether that’s on the pitch or off the pitch with the younger lads that is what I am here to do."