Express journalist Scott Burns has claimed that Celtic centre-back Stephen Welsh has been handed a place in the Scotland under-21 squad for the first time ever.
Welsh was initially omitted from the squad when it was announced on October 28th. Scot Gemmill’s side faces two crucial UEFA Euro qualifiers against Croatia and Greece respectively over the next seven days.
However, Burns has tweeted that Welsh has indeed been given a place after impressing for Celtic in games against Rangers and AC Milan last month.
https://twitter.com/ScottBurns75/status/1325876161692491776
Fellow Celtic youngsters David Turnbull and Ross Doohan were initially called up when the squad was first announced. However, for Welsh, this would be a debut call-up after initially being given a call for the same fixtures back in March before the pandemic halted things.
Welsh has experience with Scotland at u-16, u-17, and u-19 level respectively. His call-up to the 21s provides him with yet another step forward in what could be a huge season for the centre-back.
Welsh won’t look out of place at under-21 level
Should Gemmill give Welsh a long-overdue chance to shine against the likes of Croatia and Greece, you can bank on the Celtic man not looking out of place. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise you if he was one of the standout performers.
Even if results haven’t gone his way this season when he has featured, he’s adapted to the occasions extremely well. Remember, we’re talking about a Glasgow derby and a game against the Serie A leaders. Welsh has been thrown into some powderkeg situations and acquitted himself extremely well.
It’s also worth mentioning that he came on for the closing stages in Lille and helped ease Celtic to a draw. At that time, Lille were top of Ligue 1 in France. He’s getting himself involved in some high-profile games this season.
Granted, his game-time has dried up to an extent. He didn’t feature at all against Aberdeen, Sparta Prague, or Motherwell at the weekend. But even so, he’s gotten his name out there and has proven himself to be a reliable figure. Lennon won’t think twice about using Welsh again in the coming months.
He’s also won the adulation of many in the support too for how he stepped up. Plenty were calling for him to be reintroduced to the starting XI for our game against Motherwell on Sunday. In the end, Kris Ajer returned from injury, but you can bet Welsh would’ve been at the forefront of the manager’s thoughts.
So we’ll see how he adapts if Gemmill does indeed give him an opportunity. You won’t find many Celtic fans who would bank against him taking it – that’s for sure.
In other news, Norway manager Lars Lagerback has provided an update on Celtic’s Ajer.
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