Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph has been sharing his praise for Celtic defender Stephen Welsh and his role in the squad this season.
This comes after Joseph recently made an appearance on The Celtic Exchange Podcast where he spoke about a number of topics concerning the Parkhead club.
On the subject of Welsh and his current season with the Bhoys, Joseph had this to say on the matter.
He said: “There’s been a good thing with Stephen Welsh coming through, it’s good to see our player coming through the youth ranks at Celtic and actually getting to the first team and staking a claim for a first-team slot, which he has done now.
“I know it’s through injuries and a loan signing not working out, but he’s certainly stepped up to the mark, and in February, statistically he was one of the best defenders in the league.”
As a product of Celtic’s youth academy, Welsh made his senior debut for the club back in February last year under former Hoops boss Neil Lennon.
Since then, the 21-year-old, who is currently valued at £180k, has made 14 appearances for the Bhoys, scoring one goal in the process (per Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts on Anthony Joseph’s comments on Welsh…
Given how Welsh managed to earn himself a solid season rating of 7.1/10 for his 10 performances in the SPFL so far in this campaign, higher than the likes of Callum McGregor, Greg Taylor, Scott Brown and Diego Laxalt, this shows that he has proven himself to be a useful member of the squad this season.
Do you think Welsh will be a regular starter for Celtic next season?
Yes
No
Also, with Celtic having only conceding one goal in their four previous league games that Welsh played the full 90 minutes in, this suggests to us that he should be a regular starter for the team moving forward.