Celtic loanee Stephen Welsh made his debut last night for KV Mechelen against Cercle Brugge.
Brugge, who made headlines earlier in the season for sacking former boss Miron Muslic just days after the Belgian side defeated Hearts in the Europa Conference League.
It wasn’t to be a debut to remember for Welsh, though, as Brugge ran out 1-0 winners at home.
The one positive to take away for the Scottish defender is that he completed 90 minutes for the first time since December 22nd, when Celtic played Dundee United at Tannadice in a 0-0 draw.
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Stephen Welsh made his debut for KV Mechelen tonight, completing 90 minutes in their 1-0 loss away to Cercle Brugge.
The centre-half played at the heart of a back three. pic.twitter.com/xE3zmrCRjb
β Celtic Youth & Loan Updates (@CelticYLUpdates) January 12, 2025
With Mechelen just 4 points above 13th place Westerlo in the Belgian Pro League table, Welsh will be looking to help the team, managed by Besnik Hasi, stay clear of the relegation zone.
Teams finishing between 13th and 16th will enter a relegation split towards the end of the season, with the team that finishes 16th being automatically relegated.
The team in 15th place will face another playoff against the team finishing second in the Belgian Second Division.
It’s a good chance for Stephen Welsh to play some first-team football in a decent league. He’s been a good squad player at Celtic, but it has meant that he’s found consistent game time hard to come by.
