Chris Sutton dished out some praise on Celtic defender Stephen Welsh towards the end of Leipzig’s 3-1 win over Celtic on Wednesday – praising the Parkhead academy product for holding his own, after replacing Cameron Carter-Vickers.
Welsh, 22, has come into the Celtic side in their last three games with USA international Carter-Vickers out injured. It has seen him play in the 2-0 defeat to St. Mirren, and the win over Motherwell – as well as last night’s loss in Germany.
Coming up against the likes of Timo Werner, Christopher Nkunku, Andre Silva and Dominik Szoboszlai, it was going to be a tough ask. Indeed, it will have been a tough ask for most defenders in European football, away from home.
But with the scoreline reading 3-1, Sutton handed out some praise for Welsh towards the end of the match. On co-commentary duties for BT Sport, Sutton said Welsh had “held his own” having replaced Carter-Vickers at the back.
“He’s stuck to his task pretty well this evening, there has been a lot of talk about missing Cameron Carter-Vickers – and I get that, he was probably the best player in Scotland last season. But Welsh has given a decent account of himself.”
Sutton dishes out praise on Celtic defender Welsh despite Leipzig loss
While Welsh could not stop Leipzig finding the back of the net on five occasions, two of which were disallowed, he rarely made a big mistake. Decent in possession, worked hard and tried to nullify Leipzig as much as possible.
According to WhoScored, he completed 55 of 58 passes – a rate of 95%, the best in Celtic colours. He managed six clearances, more than any of his teammates, also blocking a shot and making an interception. A decent outing.
Is it enough to convince Ange Postecoglou to start him over Carter-Vickers? Not a chance. But he has certainly shown Postecoglou that he is more than capable of filling in as the club’s next-best option.
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