The Celtic supporters on Twitter are all for giving Stephen Welsh a return to the starting XI in place of Shane Duffy against Motherwell.
Welsh didn’t look out of place in games last month against the likes of Rangers and AC Milan – two of our toughest challenges of the season so far.
However, with Neil Lennon deciding to correctly revert back to a defensive four for the trip to Pittodrie two weeks ago, Welsh hasn’t started since. Instead, the manager has went with experienced duo Duffy and Kris Ajer.
Even with the latter having picked up an injury, the manager has gone with Nir Bitton in his place. But it’s clear that supporters are still wanting more changes to the back-line in a bid to find a partnership that works.
Duffy, unfortunately, is continuing to have a rough time of it. Individual errors against Rangers, AC Milan, Aberdeen, Lille, and now Sparta Prague makes for grim reading. As much as we all want him to succeed here, the fact he’s making costly errors almost on a game-by-game frequency is massively concerning.
And it’s now time for Lennon to switch things up again and give Welsh his shot. After all, it sends the right message to the Lennoxtown youngsters that opportunities will be there for them if they continue to work hard and impress. Welsh has done both this season.
This was also backed up by 67HailHail writer John Reid, who yesterday called for Welsh to come back into the starting XI this afternoon.
Sure, there’s also Hatem Elhamed to take into consideration if we’re talking centre-back cover. But even so, Hatem is more suited to his right-back position, and considering our lack of depth in that area, it’s where he should be focusing his attention.
Lennon has, and rightly in my view, backed Duffy to overcome his slump on several occasions over the last few weeks. But there comes a time when taking him out of the spotlight may also be better for his own good.
There are always risks when you throw youngsters into the mix at a time like this, but it’s not as if we’re operating in a risk-free territory with Duffy playing every game.
Here’s a look at what fans are saying in the run-up to today’s crucial contest at Fir Park:
https://twitter.com/PaulMcG1994/status/1325068079953534982
https://twitter.com/John33679480/status/1324830679494963202
https://twitter.com/michaelt1967/status/1324649484505284609
In other news, Neil Lennon did something yesterday that he admits he hasn’t done in a “long, long time”.
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