Celtic manager Neil Lennon says that Damien Duff will be a difficult man to replace in his management team.
The 41-year-old was last month announced as a member of Stephen Kenny's Ireland backroom team along with Keith Andrews and Alan Kelly.
Duff was appointed a first team coach at Celtic last year following the departure of Brendan Rodgers as manager. The Dubliner had only joined months earlier.
"I spoke to Damien on Monday and he was in good spirits but he’ll join the FAI," said Lennon.
"It’s a blow because he contributed immensely and personally I got on great with him.
"He’s in his formative years as a coach but he made a huge contribution and there was a good chemistry there. So he’ll be difficult to replace, that’s for sure.
"We were waiting on everything getting called first then we’ll look to replace him but it’s not at the forefront of our minds.
"Damien’s at home in Ireland but his contract doesn’t run out until the end of next month.
"If we come back on June 10 we might have him until the end of the month and that might buy us some time to look to bring someone in or promote from within."
Photo by Alan Harvey/Sportsfile
