Celtic centre-back Stephen Welsh was handed the man of the match award after the 2-1 win over Motherwell on Saturday.
The 21-year-old scored the opening goal after two minutes with an excellent header and he was an assured presence at the back all afternoon for the Hoops.
After the game, supporters on Twitter were praising Welsh, with some even asking why manager Neil Lennon hadn’t picked the defender earlier in the season:
The player who should've been starting all along instead of Duffy. Cracking performance well deserved
— d (@dm18881967) February 6, 2021
Level headed young man, will go far, well deserved Stephen ??
— ????? (@DanManCelt) February 6, 2021
Stephen Welsh the highlight of the season in terms of break through – excellent young man
— alex.sharkey (@sharkey1411) February 6, 2021
Well deserved had a great game
— Alison Doran ? ??????? (@GeordieGhirl88) February 6, 2021
Yassssss
— DrFunkeRFC (@DrFunkeRFC) February 6, 2021
Well done Stephen, great header too. Really pleased for you. ???
— R4tser (@R4tser) February 6, 2021
Well done young Welsh.
Lovely header for the goal. ?— John Carey (@Johnny_Carey) February 6, 2021
Well done Stephen
— Helen McCallum (@HMccallum1967) February 6, 2021
It was only Welsh’s eighth appearance of the campaign, and his fourth Premiership start in total. He did struggle somewhat in the defeat to Rangers back in October but, as that was his first competitive match since last February, that can be excused.
The centre-half has certainly looked more impressive than Shane Duffy, who has flattered to deceive since his arrival from Brighton on loan in the summer.
In the absence of the injured Christopher Jullien, Welsh could well cement his place as Kristoffer Ajer‘s centre-back partner for the rest of the season.
