Celtic captain Callum McGregor has joked that it would come as a ‘shock to the system’ if he was rested for Scotland’s clash against Ukraine on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old has been a key feature for Steve Clarke’s squad in recent squads, and that was no different during the September international break.
McGregor has featured for the entire 90 minutes during the Tartan Army’s two crucial victories against Ukraine and the Republic of Ireland.
With one final game to go before the return of club football later this week, McGregor will be looking to lead Scotland to another victory, taking the nation into Group A of the UEFA Nations League.
Facing Ukraine for a second time in the past week, the midfielder will be heading to a familiar destination, with the fixture taking place in Poland.
Although the match will be in Krakow on this occasion, McGregor believes it will be a similar experience to Celtic’s matchup against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League, which took place in Warsaw.
He said [Daily Record]: “Just going from our experience last week in Poland, then maybe (a lack of noise).
“But we have to expect that the crowd will be behind them, and they will be feeling good about themselves because they’re at home. We have to try to take that element of surprise out of our game and focus.”
After another busy start to the campaign, which McGregor has become accustomed to, there may have been some questions over whether Clarke might have rested the midfielder going into this game.
Following the suspension of Scott McTominay, that looks unlikely, and McGregor is once again set to feature in all three international fixtures this break.
Of course, this isn’t anything new to the Celtic man, who joked, it would come as a shock to the system if he didn’t play his part in all three after becoming known for racking up a huge amount of games each season.
He continued: “That would be a shock to the system! I play 70 matches a season!”
Callum McGregor continues to display brilliant mentality
Although Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou might have preferred a short rest for his captain, the 57-year-old will be well aware of how key the midfielder is for Steve Clarke.
I am sure McGregor will also be keen to continue playing as many games as possible, continuing another impressive start to the new campaign.
It once again goes to show the incredible mentality of our captain, who will never back down from any game and wants to play in every single match for club and country.
Despite the disappointment of the Hoops’ last Scottish Premiership outings, this international break has allowed the Celtic stars featuring for Scotland to continue some momentum.
And I am sure the Celtic skipper will be desperate to bring that over to his club form when the Bhoys return to action against Motherwell in the league this Saturday.
Here’s hoping that McGregor can have a big part to play in another strong performance for Scotland tomorrow evening whilst staying injury free!
In other news, Ange Postecoglou faces further injury news wait as two Celtic stars receive treatment.
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