Swansea City centre-back Stephen Welsh has withdrawn from the Scotland squad for their upcoming Nations League fixtures. The Scottish FA announced that Los Angeles defender Ryan Porteous has been called up as his replacement.
Injury Update and Squad Changes
Concerns had arisen that Welsh suffered severe knee ligament damage after a tackle by Ebou Adams during Swansea’s 3-1 defeat against Portsmouth on Tuesday. However, scans performed on Thursday indicated the 26-year-old avoided any major injury, with Swansea initially holding optimism he might feature in their fixture against Birmingham City on Saturday.
Despite the positive scan results, the Scottish FA confirmed Welsh will miss the matches against North Macedonia at home on Friday and Switzerland away on Monday, November 16. Welsh has secured all four of his international caps since Sebastien Pocognoli took over as Scotland head coach during the summer.
Replacement and Upcoming Fixtures
His replacement, 27-year-old Porteous, last represented Scotland in March 2025 under Steve Clarke, appearing as a late substitute to claim his 13th cap during a 1-0 Nations League play-off victory in Greece. Porteous transferred from Watford to Los Angeles last August following a loan spell at Preston, and has accumulated 35 appearances this year for his club, which currently sits sixth in the Western Conference and 12th overall in the Major League Soccer table.
Scotland needs to secure a minimum of four points from their final two group matches to maintain any possibility of reaching the promotion play-offs.
