Soccer Football - Champions League - Group E - Celtic v Feyenoord - Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - December 13, 2023 Celtic players pose for a team group photo before the match Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
For the first time since August 13 Stephen Welsh found himself back in action for Celtic.
An ankle injury a few days after that Pittodrie appearance brought his season to an early halt after going through a full pre-season looking to impress a new manager.
Rehab took up the best part of three months with Welsh among the substitutes for the Champions League matches away to Atletico Madrid and Lazio.
With Liam Scales emerging, Cameron Carter-Vickers returning from injury and Nat Phillips in on loan from Liverpool the first team door has been bolted on Welsh alongside summer signings Gus Lagerbielke and Maik Nawrocki.
Welsh didn’t make the squad for Sunday’s defeat at Kilmarnock but at training on Tuesday he was informed that he’d be starting against Feyenoord- his second start since pairing up with Moritz Jenz away to RB Leipzig last October.
Reflecting on the dramatic turn of events Welsh told the Daily Mail:
Gus has come on and he has been excellent. Me and him and big Maik Nawrocki have all been training most days — and they train like animals every day.
Gus has got his reward and so have I coming into the team to play in the Champions League.
I’m pleased for Gus. He’s a great guy and a good footballer and he works hard every day. He’s a very good defender, very good on the ball and I’m delighted for him.
It’s tough to come into a new environment when you are maybe not getting the game time you want but it is what it is. At a club like Celtic, there’s always competition.
Lagerbielke replaced Welsh in the 75th minute, 15 minutes later he was heading into the Feyenoord net to end a 10 year run without a home win in the Champions League.
Hopefully he means like thoroughbred racehorses, not like performing seals or foxhounds…. memories of Neil Lennon saying Hartley & Robson had both been playing “like a pair of dogs” to keep a young Broony out the team!
Brendan now knows he has Bench Players better than Project Players that he can confidently bring on earlier than he usually does. I think this builds team spirit.