Stephen Welsh says Celtic have a young academy star who has been impressing his teammates in training recently.
Welsh, an academy graduate himself, has learned the majority of his trade at Lennoxtown. Barring a short 18-game loan spell at Greenock Morton, the Scottish defender has spent the majority of his career crafting his skills at Lennoxtown. [Transfermarkt]
Enjoying a brief spell in the Celtic first-team, Welsh has identified a youngster from the Celtic Academy who is now wowing in training after making his first-team debut in January against Buckie Thistle in the Scottish Cup
Daniel Kelly has been ‘excellent’ at Celtic
Young Kelly has made five first-team appearances for Celtic this season. Two in the Scottish Cup and three in the league but all at Parkhead.
Kelly also scored on his league debut in the 7-1 thrashing of Dundee last month and it looks like he has grown in confidence since then.
Welsh said [The Herald], “The squad is a bit bigger just now, so the opportunities might be a bit fewer and farther between, but there are lads like DK [Daniel Kelly] who came on in the Buckie game to make his debut.
“He’s been excellent in training, and I know we were maybe four or five up at the time, but the gaffer doesn’t just put him on to give him his debut. He’s earned that through hard work and performing well in training.”
Having clear potential, Celtic are keen to tie down Kelly to a new deal and ensure they keep one of their brightest talents at the club for the foreseeable future.
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Kelly making an impression, not just at Celtic
And it’s not just at Celtic where Kelly has been impressing. Scotland u19 manager, Billy Stark, has told recently how he believes his old club has a ‘powerhouse‘ on their hands.
So it seems that the 18-year-old central midfielder is striking all the right chords with all the people who currently matter in the game.
Kelly has also been starring for the Hoops in the UEFA Youth League. In six appearances he has scored twice despite Celtic only winning one of their fixtures in the competition.
Are we likely to see the young man feature again this season? Brendan Rodgers really likes the Scotland u19 star.
He has been named in the Celtic matchday squad ten times already this season.
I reckon the Celtic fans are likely to get more glimpses of this talented young man before the season draws to its close.