With Celtic off to Broadwood Stadium on Sunday to face Clyde, you would think it would be an ideal time to give some fringe and young players an opportunity.
However, unfortunately, impressive young debutant Stephen Welsh won’t be one of them. The Celtic centre-back is unfortunately cup-tied for the weekend’s Scottish Cup clash.
Welsh was on loan at Greenock Morton during the first half of the season. And, due to that, he’s actually been cup-tied since November when they faced Brora Rangers. Welsh has played three Scottish Cup matches for the Ton, with his most recent being a 2-0 loss at St Johnstone after the end of the winter break.
Official Scottish Cup rules state that no player can play for two different clubs during the competition (SFA, rule 13.4)
With Jozo Simunovic back into contention for the trip to Fir Park tonight (Daily Record), it also remains to be seen if Welsh is given the chance to feature in North Lanarkshire.
Welsh still in Neil Lennon’s plans
Neil Lennon has stated that Welsh remains in his plans despite Simunovic’s return (Celtic TV). Therefore, the young defender can certainly take heart from that. It’s key that he has the backing of the manager, and he certainly deserves to stay in the mix.
You could probably have nearly guaranteed that Welsh would’ve featured on Sunday if he was available. With Clyde currently competing in Division One, Celtic have the luxury of tweaking things ever so slightly. Of course, mass changes shouldn’t come into effect either.
Yet the match at Broadwood will only be game number three of a ridiculously busy eight-game month. With home fixtures against Hearts and Kilmarnock still to come, there will certainly be situations where he’ll be required.
As things stand, Welsh is suddenly in an incredible position. Two weeks ago he was playing with Morton in the Championship without many Celtic fans taking much notice. Now, however, he’s thrown himself right into contention for some big games for the biggest club in Scotland.
If he’s selected at Fir Park tonight, he’ll be given a much stiffer test than he got on Sunday at Accies. However, it’s difficult to forget just how easy he made his Hamilton display look. Welsh is in a great place at the minute.
So it’s a shame he won’t be able to face Clyde on Sunday, but that game was hardly going to be the making of his Celtic career in any case. His future looks extremely bright regardless.
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