As Celtic ponder their defensive options after Carl Starfelt’s injury on Saturday, it looks likely that Stephen Welsh is set for his big opportunity to win his spot back.
Welsh was a regular at the start of the season under Ange Postecoglou. However, after the arrival of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Starfelt, his game-time reduced as Ange focused on building up that partnership as his first-choice.
Starfelt unfortunately went down against Livingston on Saturday. The centre-back believes he’ll be out for a couple of weeks after speaking to Fotbol Skanalen over the weekend.
Christopher Jullien may be back doing training again. But Postecoglou has already stated in recent weeks that it’s looking more like late November before he’s able to take part more regularly.
That means Welsh, who was recently made captain of the Scotland U-21 side, is primed to be given an opportunity this week. Celtic have huge matches over the next 6 days against Ferencvaros in Hungary and Dundee at Dens Park.
The manager has spoken in the past even after dropping Welsh that he’s still rated highly at Celtic Park [The Herald]. Therefore, he’ll be the natural choice to play alongside Carter-Vickers in 2 massive games for Celtic before the November internationals.
Stephen Welsh ready for more Celtic opportunities
Welsh had a right to feel earlier this summer that he was dropped unfairly. It’s not as if Starfelt had been performing to a greater level than him. It was clearly just a case of Ange looking to utilise experience first and foremost. But he’s always maintained that the new Scotland youth captain still has a big part to play.
Given Starfelt’s injury timeline, it looks as though, touch-wood, that he’ll be back and competing for his spot after the international break. With Jullien also just a few weeks from competing, things are about to get a lot tougher in the centre-back position.
Therefore, the importance of this opportunity for Stephen can’t be underestimated. If he shows that he can thrive alongside CCV in Hungary and Dens Park, why would you drop him? It’ll be important for the youngster to keep his spot if playing well, and Postecoglou has already shown that he’ll reward those players in-form.
We’re talking about a player who’s ready for more first-team exposure. A player who performed well for Celtic in the early stages of the campaign. He’s waited patiently for an opportunity to step back in, and now that time has come.
Some may point to Nir Bitton’s availability and question whether he could take the vacant centre-back spot. But the truth is there’s nothing to suggest Nir is ahead of Welsh when it comes to that particular position.
So let’s see how Stephen reacts to the pressure that will come with another run in the side. He may only have 2 games to prove his worth, so all eyes on that particular subplot ahead of a big week for the club.
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