STEPHEN Welsh was given his Glasgow derby debut on Saturday in the absence of the injured Christopher Jullien, and while the 20-year-old handled himself well, he was naturally disappointed with the outcome of the match.

Nevertheless, the defender said this squad of 'serial winners' must and will bounce back as they look ahead to a string of exciting fixtures in the coming weeks.

“I’m obviously gutted,” said Welsh after Saturday’s game. “The result was really disappointing. We need to win the derby games, and our only goal was to win. I don’t think we played particularly well, and unfortunately came out of the wrong side with a defeat.

“When you see your name on that team sheet you need to be ready. There are no excuses any more, you have to get out there and do the business. It was unfortunate we didn’t manage it, but we have a big game on Thursday against AC Milan and then another big one on Sunday against Aberdeen, so we need to bounce back.”

Welsh was keen not to use the absence of fans on Saturday as an excuse, and said that, while he’s unsure if he’ll be selected to play against the Serie A front-runners on Thursday, he’ll be more than ready if called upon.

Having made his debut against Rangers on Saturday, Diego Laxalt will also be in the frame to play against his parent club, and Welsh is confident he can impress if given the nod.

He added: “The Rangers match was only my second game so to play against AC Milan for my third would be a good test, but you never know until the team gets announced. These are the games you want to be playing in as a kid, so you might as well play in them right from the start and that’s it. It’s experience.

“Diego’s got so much quality. He’s played in World Cups and with AC Milan at the highest level. He’s a really good player and he will need to understand the mentality of the boys and the mentality of Celtic. It’ll come in time because he’s a really, really good player.”

Welsh: We’re disappointed but there is lots to look forward to