Chris Sutton says Celtic have an ‘outstanding footballer’ who has been undervalued this season

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Celtic’s success over the past two years has been down to a select number of players whose noticeable work hard for the team helped deliver five trophies out of six.

This season, the Celtic fans have watched a defence struggle to cope without the strength of Cameron Carter-Vickers and the vision and nous of Reo Hatate.

Even the drop in form of Matt O’Riley was hugely noticeable compared to what we saw at the start of the season is hugely noticeable as the Danish international’s goals and assists dried up.

Greg Taylor is also an example of a player whose contribution to the side was only really appreciated when he dropped out of the team and then the fans had to watch Alexandro Bernabei try to fill his boots.

But there is one other player that Chris Sutton believes the Celtic fans are now starting to appreciate what he brings to the team now that he is out injured.

Sutton says Callum McGregor’s Celtic absence is now noticed

Callum McGregor is one of those Celtic players who the fans just expect to deliver a performance every week because he is just so consistently good.

The Hoops captain was a stalwart during the Ange Postecoglou era where he made 94 appearances to help pick up a double and then a subsequent record-breaking treble.

Only two serious injuries kept him out of the team over that two year period but at that point, Celtic could call on the likes of Aaron Mooy and Hatate to help fill in that gap.

We don’t have that now and that is the reason why Sutton now believes that now he is out injured, the work McGregor does for Celtic is often overlooked by some fans.

Sutton said [Daily Record], “Losing McGregor was another boot for Rodgers, especially with the timing of it.

“Celtic had given away their advantage at the top of the table, yet an opportunity to seize it again arose with a shock Rangers home loss to Motherwell. 

“Unlike last season when McGregor missed key games, Celtic did not have an Aaron Mooy to fill the void or a Hatate.

“The captain is so valuable and some fans only see his true worth when he’s not in the team. He’s an outstanding footballer and does so much to knit the whole side together.”

The Celtic supporters, and Brendan Rodgers, will be hoping that the captain is back in time for the Ibrox game next month.

McGregor has controlled the last two Glasgow Derbies this season in which we picked up two wins and he will be crucial to our chances of getting another next month which will be pivotal in keeping us on track to defending the title.