Welsh should start ahead of Carter-Vickers

Saturday’s game against Ross County was Cameron Carter-Vickers’ second run out since July, so there was no surprise to see him down with cramp in the second half.  Match fitness cannot be fully achieved without matches.  It will take a few weeks until he is fully primed.

This poses a question for Ange Postecoglou, does he play Cameron against Real Betis tomorrow or revert to Stephen Welsh, a player two years younger but who is fully fit.

If we were discussing a creative type, like Jota, who also cramped on Saturday, I would expect him to start, as creatives are often swapped out in the second half, but managers are loathed to change their defensive line during a game.

I don’t think there is a definitive best choice here.  We do not know enough about Cameron and I know little about Betis, but my hunch would be to play Stephen.  The overriding factor is that we know Betis will run our back line significantly more than Ross County did on Saturday.  If Cameron’s muscles were in rebellion then, they will surely suffer in Seville.