Brendan Rodgers hails ‘excellent’ Celtic star who was ‘such a big tactical reference’ vs Dundee United

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Brendan Rodgers has showered praise on Celtic skipper Callum McGregor for his influence in the win over Dundee United.

Celtic dominated in their 3-0 victory against United as they warmed up for their Bayern Munich Champions League second leg in style.

Jota and Adam Idah were outstanding at Celtic Park as the £8m and £9m stars scored tremendous goals to deliver three points in the Premiership.

But McGregor’s performance against the Terrors cannot be understated as he was the man who got things going for Celtic in the first-half.

After a frustrating opening 22 minutes, McGregor conjured up a moment of individual brilliance to put his side 1-0 in front.

He twinkle-toed his way past two United defender inside the box before unleashing a perfect finish into the bottom opposite corner.

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Brendan Rodgers singles out Celtic captain Callum McGregor

McGregor now has eight goals for the season and with that, one of Celtic’s most decorated players of all-time is on course to achieve his highest scoring tally in a campaign.

Rodgers spoke to BBC Sportsound after the 3-0 win over Dundee United and picked out McGregor for praise.

The Northern Irishman wasn’t even interested in his brilliant goal, but more about how he operated in midfield as Celtic’s excellent ‘tactical reference’.

Rodgers said post-match: “I thought we were excellent today off the back of a tough physical game in the midweek. The level of the game and the quality of the goals was outstanding.

“(Callum McGregor) is such a big tactical reference for the team. He sits in there and controls the game. Overall, he was excellent.

“We want to win every game. If you don’t do your work, or you look for an easy game, that’s when you come unstuck. United have been fantastic this season. We knew we had to play to a good level to get a result.”

McGregor’s stats vs Dundee United

It’s absolutely no surprise to hear Rodgers hail McGregor after he put in another exemplary captain’s performance on Saturday.

Labelled recently by James McFadden as ‘top level’, McGregor actually seems to be getting better and better despite being at the age of 31.

He’s not long passed the 500th appearance mark for Celtic and at this rate, you wouldn’t put it past him getting into the top 10 Celtic legends with the most appearances for the club.