Celtic captain Callum McGregor has insisted he is as hungry as ever to achieve more with the Hoops after making his 400th appearance on Sunday.
The 29-year-old has come a long way at Parkhead, rising through the club’s academy system before becoming a mainstay under several managers.
Now, working under Ange Postecoglou, McGregor is the Celtic captain, and he sets the standards on and off the field at the club.
It has been quite the season for the Scotland international, who is aiming to lead the Bhoys to his first-ever treble as the skipper.
It started off strongly for McGregor, who continues to mesmerise Celtic and Scottish Football supporters with the number of games he plays each season.
However, the midfielder was forced into a break from playing this season after picking up a serious knee injury against RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
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The injury McGregor sustained saw him miss several months in the campaign. But the Bhoys continued to kick on and pick up results.
The captain marked his return to action after the World Cup in a 1-0 win over Aberdeen. And that day, the midfielder was the man to produce the winner, making the perfect return.
Speaking in a recent interview, the Celtic academy graduate reflected on his tough time out due to injury before opening up on his immediate impact on his return against Aberdeen.
He said [Celtic TV]: It was a difficult moment. I’ve been lucky enough that I’ve sort of managed to avoid these (sort of injuries) as much as possible. But sometimes that’s football, you get injured.
“I think you take a few days to get your head around it, the medical staff were really good, the manager as well; they gave me a few days just to get my head around it.
“And then when I came back to work, I had a different focus, I was trying to get back fit and still try to help the team as much as I could.
“Obviously, not being on the pitch. But trying to help them, and I thought the boys did ever so well; really stuck together, stuck to our principles and our football.
“We obviously managed to stretch the lead, and it sort of gave me that time to recover, come back, and obviously, first game back (at Pittodrie), I probably couldn’t have marked it any better.
“For myself, to come back and score in the last minute, which was brilliant”
McGregor has seamlessly returned to the Celtic starting 11, and on Sunday, the skipper made a landmark appearance, playing his 400th game for the club.
Although he is delighted to have reached that landmark at a club like Celtic, the Hoops number 42 insisted he is hungrier than ever to achieve even more in the green and white.
“It was a nice little marker (to hit 400 appearances). 400 is a lot of games, especially for this football club, there is such a high demand for performance and everything that you do in your life, it’s really sort of scrutinised, and you’ve got to take it with you.
“So there is a lot that goes into having a long career and being successful at Celtic. So something that I am proud of to get this far.
“I’m hungry for more. People who know me and have probably heard me speak a lot of the time now can tell that I’m desperate to do more.
“I always want to improve and give more for this club, they’ve been brilliant to me and my family throughout the years, and all I want to do is repay that as much as I possibly can.”
Callum McGregor aiming to win even more as captain of Celtic.
Even after 400 appearances and countless trophies for the club, Callum McGregor is just as hungry as ever to achieve even more success at Parkhead.
It just goes the sort of character the midfielder is, and it is precisely why he is regarded as such as an important figure in Ange Postecoglou’s squad.
As the captain of Celtic, there is a lot of responsibility on McGregor’s shoulders. However, he has simply embraced that since taking over from Scott Brown.
Although the Celtic captain has already achieved so much as a player at this club, I have no doubt in my mind that he is serious about those claims, and there is even more to come over the next few years.
And who better to be leading us through the evolution of Ange Postecoglou’s side.
In other news, Sublime midfield continues, in-form attacker returns; Celtic Predicted XI vs Livingston.