Frustrated O'Dea wants loan move away from Parkhead in January

The young Irishman failed to make a rare first-team appearance against Livingston
at Parkhead in the third round of the Co-operative Insurance Cup on Tuesday night.

And that added to his frustration after being blocked from moving on loan to a Championship club when the transfer window closed at the end of August.

Darren O'Dea wants a loan move away from Celtic in January

O’Dea made his name in the Champions League last 16 against Milan in 2007, as he
stepped in for the injured Gary Caldwell. But the defender has started only six games since then and the £2.5million signing of Glenn Loovens further reduces his chances.

‘Darren is extremely frustrated at the moment and you can count on one hand the number of games he has played for the first team over the past year,’ said the player’s agent, Kevin Moran, who was once Gordon Strachan’s team-mate at Manchester United.

‘We will be asking again at Christmas if he can go out on loan. There were options for
him in the Coca-Cola Championship in August but Celtic would not allow him to leave Parkhead.

‘He’s desperate to play first-team football in order to develop. He has been in the full
Republic of Ireland squad for Giovanni Trapattoni but that’s unlikely to happen again if he’s sitting on the sidelines or playing reserve games.

‘It is very hard when you have come in against AC Milan and done well. You want to kick your career on from that rather than find it going backwards. We will see what
happens in January.’