Stephen Welsh stakes claim for more regular spot in Celtic win

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After missing the weekend win, Stephen Welsh returned to Celtic’s starting lineup for Wednesday’s clash with Aberdeen.

Welsh has made a number of starts for the Hoops in recent weeks. And he has been extremely promising. He certainly seems to have enjoyed a better season than Shane Duffy.

However, Duffy was more impressive against St Johnstone on Sunday. So Welsh may have felt a little pressure to impress against the Dons this week.

And based on his stats, it would certainly appear that he has done enough to justify keeping his place for this weekend, if not longer.

As shown by Whoscored.com, the 21-year-old completed 78 accurate passes during the 1-0 win.

Callum McGregor was the only player on either side to manage more. Meanwhile, centre-back partner Kristoffer Ajer was third on the list with 13 fewer than Welsh.

He also made two clearances during the game. And he also won six aerial duels – which was twice as many as Celtic’s next best performer in that area.

Welsh looks to have settled into the first-team fold extremely well.

And while there is a lot of unpredictably surrounding Celtic heading into the summer, it seems to be a safe bet to suggest that the youngster is going to be in the mix for a prominent role next season.