Stephen Welsh earns lofty Celtic praise from Ange Postecoglou as wanted defender 'goes up a level'

Ange Postecoglou believes Stephen Welsh has already taken his game to a new level over pre-season.

And now the Celtic boss wants to wring even more from the Scotland Under-21 centre-back. Welsh is set to partner Cameron Carter-Vickers in today’s Premiership opener against Aberdeen at Parkhead, with Carl Starfelt and Moritz Jenz not fully fit. The 22-year-old has been chased by Toulouse with Postecoglou keen for Welsh to stay after a loan bid with a £3.5million option to buy was turned down.

The Aussie has seen an improvement in the defender’s game over the summer and wants him to kick on this season. Postecoglou said: “Welshy has shown a lot of growth. I expect that from all the players. He has come back for pre-season and worked really hard through it. We are challenging him to take his game to another level. He has definitely gone up a level from last year and hopefully he knows that we will try to get even more out of him.”

Working to improve players on the training ground is central to Postecoglou’s philosophy and he believes new first-team coach Harry Kewell has added a different dimension to Celtic in this regard.

The ex-Liverpool and Leeds United star was recruited in a summer backroom team reshuffle. And Postecoglou is delighted with the impact his fellow Aussie has made so far.

He said: “We brought in Harry so that people don’t get too comfortable in terms of the voices they hear.

“My job is to ensure he keeps improving. He will learn from the likes of John Kennedy, Gavin Strachan, Stephen McManus and Darren O’Dea. They all help each other.”

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