Swansea City defender Stephen Welsh has withdrawn from the Scotland squad for the upcoming Nations League matches, with Los Angeles player Ryan Porteous taking his place.
Injury Update and Squad Changes
Concerns arose that Welsh had suffered severe knee ligament damage during a tackle by Ebou Adams in Swansea’s 3-1 defeat at Portsmouth on Tuesday, though medical evaluations on Thursday suggested otherwise. Scans revealed no major injury, and Swansea initially anticipated he might feature in their fixture against Birmingham City on Saturday.
However, the Scottish FA confirmed his exclusion from the upcoming fixtures, which include a home match against North Macedonia on Friday and an away game against Switzerland on Monday, 16 November.
International Background
Welsh has accumulated all four of his international caps following the appointment of Sebastien Pocognoli as Scotland head coach during the summer.
His replacement, Porteous, last represented Scotland under Steve Clarke in March 2025, making a late substitute appearance for his 13th cap during a 1-0 Nations League play-off victory in Greece. The 27-year-old former Hibernian defender moved to Los Angeles from Watford last August after spending the end of the previous season on loan at Preston, and has appeared 35 times this year for his club.
Scotland require a minimum of four points from their final two group fixtures to secure a spot in the promotion play-offs.
