FULL STEAM AHEAD FOR WELSH NOW
ANGE POSTECOGLOU has challenged Stephen Welsh to make a charge for Steve Clarke’s full Scotland squad.
The Celtic defender has been named in Scot Gemmill’s Under-21 group for next month’s Euro qualifier against Turkey.
Boss Postecoglou is convinced the youngster can make a case for the step up to Clarke’s full squad if he maintains his current form.
He said: “That is Stephen’s challenge and he has done very well.
“I was national coach at Under-17 and Under-20 level. I saw a lot of very talented players at 17s and 20s who I thought were definitely going to be senior internationals and it never quite happened.
“I have also seen others who are late developers.
“I think the key to that is how they embrace every challenge that is inevitably going to come before them.
“With Welshy at the moment there have been some pretty pressurised, stressful situations and they have gone really well and he is thriving.
“I think he is improving, he wants to learn. That will be his litmus test from now on.
“He has already shown he can play at this level, but for him to progress he has to, whenever he gets a new challenge, at domestic or international level, raise his game to that.
“At the moment, we are delighted with his progress. He is a 21-year-old who has been thrown into some pretty highly pressurised situations.
“The climate at the time that I took over was particularly difficult.
“Everyone was looking at us and there wasn’t a lot of optimistic outlook on it.
“With a young guy that can go one of two ways, but he has thrived on it and hopefully there is more to come.”