Callum McGregor missed Celtic’s win over Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership as the Hoops captain declared an injury to Brendan Rodgers prior to the game.
When Rodgers announced the team against Motherwell, Celtic fans started to immediately ask the question of whether their leader was injured or merely being rested.
The Celtic boss confirmed McGregor had a niggle before the Motherwell game but last night, Rodgers confirmed that he would expect his captain to return to first-team action soon but not before detailing just how hard McGregor has worked for the team, especially in the Champions League.
Brendan Rodgers hails ‘committed’ Celtic captain Callum McGregor’s Champions League effort
Rodgers told Celtic TV, “Callum, the wear and tear of playing so many games, so it won’t do him any harm to miss out a game.
“He’s so consistent. He’s such a committed player and you know that if there’s a niggle with him, then it’s really got to be something that’s quite sore for him not to be involved.
“But we’re hopeful with him that it’s just a case of that fatigue after putting in so much and I think you’ve seen his numbers that he’s covered the most ground of any player in the Champions League.
“So it tells you how much he’s work is putting in. So we’re hopeful he could be involved in some part on Wednesday, if not, then definitely Saturday.”
The Callum McGregor UEFA Champions League stat that’s head and shoulders above Europe’s elite
Callum McGregor has been lauded over the years as the most consistent and committed Celtic player in the squad.
Averaging 50 games a season now seems to be taking its toll but there is one area of his game where he outperforms the likes of Declan Rice at Arsenal and Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich.
In terms of distance covered by players in the Champions League, McGregor leads the way on top of the pile on a total of 37km. [UEFA]
- 1st – Callum McGregor (Celtic) 37km
- 2nd – Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich) 36.8km
- 3rd – Warren Zaïre-Emery (PSG) 36.2km
- 4th – Kai Havertz (Arsenal) 36.1km
- 4th – Declan Rice (Arsenal) 36.1km
- 6th – Morten Hjulmand (Sporting CP) 35.8km
- 7th- Marc Casado (Barcelona) 35.6km
- 7th – Ederson (Atalanta) 35.6km
- 9th – Arne Engels (Celtic) 35.5km
- 9th – Christian Pulišić (AC Milan) 35.5km
- Tijjani Reijnders (AC Milan) 35.5km
Both McGregor and Arne Engels are ahead of Liverpool duo Alexis MacAllister (35km) and Dominik Szoboszlai (34.2km) as well as Man City’s Rico Lewis (33.9km) and Barcelona defender Jule Kounde (32.7km).
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