BRENDAN RODGERS has backed Stephen Welsh to step up to the plate in the absence of Cameron Carter-Vickers as his Celtic team get geared up for their crucial clash against Rangers this afternoon.
Rodgers revealed yesterday that Carter-Vickers would be out until after the winter break after coming off with a strain in the Boxing Day game against Dundee, and the Celtic manager admitted that it would be a blow to be without his star defender for a match of such magnitude.
It looks as though he will call upon Welsh to fill the void and partner Liam Scales despite the presence of summer arrivals Maik Nawrocki, Gustaf Lagerbielke and Nat Phillips, and while disappointed to be missing the experience of Carter-Vickers, he has no doubts that Welsh will ‘relish the chance’ of playing against Rangers.
“He’s got maturity,” Rodgers said.
“He’s played in these type of games before from a youth player so he understand the magnitude of it.
“I really liked Stephen as a kid when I was here first of all. I took him to Austria and was really impressed with his mentality and focus.
“He’s maybe not played as many games [as he’d have liked], but that was maybe due to the other qualities of the guys coming in.
“But he’s a player who’s done really well. Against Aberdeen he played really well in the second half and sadly got injured.
“But he’s trained really well, came in against Feyenoord and the other night [against Dundee] came in. So, he knows what’s expected and I’m pretty sure he’ll relish the chance.”
Rodgers meanwhile said it has been concerning to see the uptick in the frequency at which Carter-Vickers has been picking up injuries since he had surgery on his knee in May.
“It’s been a challenge for Cam,” he said.
“Talking to the guys before, he hadn’t picked up a lot of injuries, he was quite robust. But since he’s had his knee operation, it’s been a challenge for him.
“Speaking to John Kennedy and asking him about that sort of experience around the knee, you end up compensating a lot. So it’s maybe going to take him a wee bit of time to get that rhythm back again.
“That’s how it’s been for him. He never had a proper pre-season. He was on his own. So, he’s always been catching up his fitness.
“But hopefully he can get free of that for the second part of the season because he’s a fantastic player and has done great for Celtic in his time here.”
