Callum McGregor shares what the Celtic players were ‘thinking about’ during the silent fan protest vs Hibs

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The next stage of fan action against the Celtic board took place at Parkhead prior to the draw against Hibs.

The Celtic Fan Collective released a statement on Friday detailing three fan protests that will take place at Parkhead over the next three home games.

The first of the three was held during Celtic’s draw with Hibs with the other two planned for Thursday night’s Europa League clash with SC Braga and then Sunday’s fixture with Motherwell.

And here, Celtic captain Callum McGregor shares what the players thought about the protest as it was going on at the start of the game against Hibs.

• READ MORE: Gary Lineker thinks he knows exactly what Kelechi Iheanacho will do at Celtic after watching him at Leicester

Callum McGregor says Celtic players didn’t ‘really notice too much’ the fan protest

McGregor and the Celtic players will be used to Parkhead, for the most part, being a cauldron of noise whenever they are playing in front of 60,000 fans.

However, for 12 minutes the vast majority of the crowd observed the silence which was a symbolic criticism at the lack of communication from the Celtic board.

But McGregor says his Celtic teammates were unfazed.

McGregor told the Daily Record, “When the game starts, the players don’t really notice too much. You are thinking about the game and where you should be.

“After that, you hear a little bit and the atmosphere is there. The job of the team is to try and get the crowd going as quickly as possible. If we start well, hopefully the whole thing comes to life again.

“We are where we were a couple of weeks ago. It is now on the team to put in performances to make everyone happy. That doesn’t change.”

How Celtic have fared previously vs SC Braga as second round of fan protests near

Celtic’s next fixture is against SC Braga in the Europa League on Thursday night. A win would put Brendan Rodgers’ side in a very good place heading into the Sturm Graz tie at the end of the month.

However with a 29-minute silent protest planned, the atmosphere will be flat unless the Celtic board come out and communicate with the supporters.

With that in mind, how have Celtic fared previously against the Portuguese club? The Parkhead club have faced Braga just twice in their history and it was, ironically, in the Champions League qualifiers in 2010:

• 28.07.2010: SC Braga 3 v 0 Celtic
• 04.08.2010: Celtic 2 v 1 SC Braga

Celtic were eliminated from Europe’s elite competition at the final hurdle before the Champions League group stages and it’s a pattern that has been repeated for decades under this board’s stewardship.