Whelan in awe of ‘Fearless’ Celtic youngster after latest display
Noel Whelan has heaped praise on the attitude and application of young Celtic defender Stephen Welsh.
The former Aberdeen striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, claimed the 21-year-old is showing the Hoops’ more experienced stars “how it’s done”.
Welsh scored his first goal for the Bhoys at the weekend when he opened the scoring with a header in their 2-1 victory over Motherwell.
He played the full 90 minutes for the second consecutive game and won the club’s man of the match award for his display.
According to sofascore, Welsh completed 91 per cent of his passes, made four clearances , three interceptions and won seven duels.
“Sometimes when you’re a manager under pressure like Neil Lennon has been this season with performances, results, being behind Rangers and the break away to Dubai, I think you’ve got to play the game safe,” Whelan told Football Insider correspondent Dylan Childs.
“you turn to your tried and trusted more experienced pros and you don’t want to put yourself under pressure by playing young players.
“But I think certainly it’s been proven that young players like Welsh are the ones playing without any fear when they’ve come in and stepped up to the mark.
“They’re the ones who are actually showing to the more experienced players how it’s done and have the right attitude.”
Welsh has now played nine times for the Celtic senior team including appearances in their last three Scottish Premiership games.
He has four league starts under his belt now and is keeping Republic of Ireland star Shane Duffy out of the starting XI.
In other news, a finance expert has claimed Celtic are “light years” behind Rangers due to tight Dermot Desmond.