Sean Welsh is chosen as the new captain of Inverness Caledonian Thistle
NEW Inverness Caledonian Thistle captain Sean Welsh says it is an honour to be given the club’s armband.
The 30-year-old was unveiled as the club’s new captain in their opening game of the Betfred Cup against Hearts on Tuesday night.
The midfielder has been captain at previous clubs including Partick Thistle and playing in youth football for Hibernian.
Welsh says it was an easy decision to accept the position and is following in the footsteps of former captain Carl Tremarco, who left at the end of last season.
“Carl was at the club for a long time and someone had to take over the duties from him,” he said.
“The gaffer asked me to do that and it is an honour to take over the armband and represent the club.
“I have done it at Partick Thistle and did it when I was at Hibernian as a young lad.
“I know what it entails, we have a young squad and it is about trying to keep young boys right and help when you can.
“At the same time, it is about focusing on your own game and not taking anything away from that.”
Welsh wore the armband for the first time in the 1-0 defeat at Hearts, with the Jambos being tipped to romp their way to the Championship this season and gain promotion back to the Premiership.
But Welsh was pleased with how his team matched Hearts and believes they are capable of challenging the Edinburgh club this season.
“Everyone saw that we are more than a match for them and that was us with just half a squad,” he said.
“The young boys did great, and it shows the strength of the squad this year. We have seven or eight boys still to come back and it will be a different game when we play in the league, but we showed we can put the effort in on the pitch.
“The strength of the squad and the young boys have been great pre-season, sometimes you have to throw them in sink or swim. “But all of them are good enough to step up to the challenge.”
Welsh suffered a broken foot last October that kept him out for five months before returning to action in February.
However, he got limited game time after the season was suspended in March due to the pandemic.
He says he used the suspension of football to improve his fitness and is now raring to go.
“Lockdown gave me a chance to get myself fit and I’ve still got a bit to go match fitness wise, but hopefully having a good pre-season will help that,” he said.
Caley Thistle return to League Cup action against Cowdenbeath on Tuesday and while looking for a positive result, Welsh admits the club are focusing more on their opening league match with Dunfermline on October 17.
“We want to compete in every competition we’re in but this is our pre-season, so we can use it both ways,” he said.
“We can use it to compete, but also look to get minutes under our belt when the first league game comes.”
