DUBLINER JONNY HAYES has been rewarded for his fine season in Scottish football by being shortlisted for the PFA Player of the Year award.
The 28-year-old, who made his debut for the Republic of Ireland in last month’s friendly with Switzerland, has been nominated along with Celtic striker Lee Griffiths and Dundee pair Greg Stewart and Kane Hemmings.
At Pittodrie since 2012, Hayes has enjoyed an excellent campaign for the Dons, scoring four times in the top flight as they made a major push for the title, getting to within one point of Celtic last month before Ronny Deila’s side eventually took control of the championship in recent weeks.
Speaking to The42 in March, Sean Wallace – a senior sportswriter with Aberdeen-based The Evening Express, said Hayes was arguably the team’s best player for the last two seasons.
“He’s been absolutely fantastic. He very rarely has a poor game”, Wallace said.
Despite his stand-out performances, Hayes still admitted that he thought his recent Irish call-up was ‘a wind-up’.
But, being recognised as one of the best footballers in Scotland this season will do his hopes of making the Euro squad no harm at all.
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