David Turnbull has backed the young centre-backs to get Celtic over the road against Midtjylland – because we won’t be playing anyone as good as Michail Antonio.
The duo of Stephen Welsh and Dane Murray struggled badly against the talent of the West Ham United frontline yesterday. The 6-2 mauling put all spotlight firmly on the lack of experience the partnership has.
However, despite that, both men were impressive last Tuesday in our 1-1 draw against Midtjylland. Given the lack of additions this summer and last week’s red card for Nir Bitton, Ange Postecoglou has no other option than to play the young duo again.
And they’ve been given the backing of Turnbull who doesn’t expect a similar standard of opponent on Wednesday to what Antonio provided yesterday.
As quoted by the Daily Record, Turnbull said: “When you’re younger it’s about doing as well as you can and proving everybody wrong. It’s about having no fear and just playing with freedom.
“We have faith in those boys 100 per cent. Welshy played most of last season and did really well every time he came in. And big Dane came in last week and did very well also. I’m sure he’ll build on that performance now.
“Antonio up front for West Ham has been a success in the Premier League and would be tough for any defence to deal with. We know what we’re up against in Midtjylland – and thankfully it’s not that.”
Celtic centre-backs in for a big assessment on Wednesday
If Celtic do fail to get over the line in Midtjylland, all criticism will turn to the board. You won’t find a single supporter call out the performances of Welsh or Murray, even if they are individually or collectively at fault.
Why? Because this situation should never have arisen. There’s no justification for a football club the size of Celtic going into UEFA Champions League qualifiers understaffed. No justification for playing two youngsters in defence who need more experience alongside them at this level.
It’s simply unacceptable. Ange Postecoglou will be like the rest of the Celtic support too. He’ll feel let down and will be more hoping his youngsters can do the job more than he will be expecting them to.
Turnbull isn’t wrong either of course. Celtic won’t come up against anything like the quality of West Ham United. We got a taste of what Midtjylland were all about last week and we dealt with it well.
There are plenty of reasons for optimism just as there may be reasons for concern. It can’t be forgotten how many opportunities we created in the first leg either.
Hopefully Celtic can show a similar level of dominance this week. But given the circumstances, it’s difficult to lay any criticism at the players if the worst was to happen.
In other news: How Midtjylland have prepared for Celtic visit on Wednesday night
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