Celtic: Stephen Welsh could return to Motherwell as Jota is likely to be out for the season

Wales has made 17 appearances since joining Whale on loan in September, helping Jens Berthel Askew’s side record nine clean sheets and move to fourth place in the Scottish Premiership table.

American centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers remains the main absentee for Celtic, and although Scottish left-back Kieran Tierney could also cover that position, O’Neill sees Liam Scales, Auston Trusty and Dane Murray as his current options in the middle.

Asked why Wales was called up, the interim coach replied: “He’s having a really great time at Motherwell and I understand, from a playing point of view, that after he got back up and had a great performance, he probably didn’t want to upset that.”

“But there was a tipping point where we could bring him back and then bring him back to Motherwell if that was the case. That might happen.

“I have to admit I didn’t realize how many games he played for this club, Champions League games too.

“We have three central defenders at the moment. If anything happens to any of them, we could find ourselves in some problems.”

O’Neill said that with captain Callum McGregor out of midfield and striker Kelechi Iheanacho suffering injuries, these were also areas he was looking to strengthen.

“I don’t see, for example, Jota returning this season,” he revealed of the winger, who injured his cruciate ligament in April. “I guess [right-back Alistair] “Johnston will probably be back sometime in March.”

The Northern Irishman took charge for only a second caretaker spell following the sacking of Wilfried Nancy on January 5, with Paul Tisdale also departing as head of football operations.

However, O’Neill was not prepared to blame the fact that players may have been initially targeted due to the Frenchman’s specific system due to a lack of signings.

“I know you think we are halfway through January, but the January transfer window is always very difficult,” he said.

“I would like to blame others, no, but it’s up to me. We work really hard in the background, so there’s no barrier in that sense.

“It’s just an attempt to bring in some people who we think can help us now, at least until the end of the season. I’ve left some out, but we’re making progress, or we think we are.”

“In terms of numbers perhaps, we wouldn’t mind including a few.”