The medical advice Celtic boss received on what he should do with Callum McGregor

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Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou has addressed the medical advice he’s been given on midfielder Callum McGregor and what to do with his injury recovery.

There has been much talk that Callum could be in line to feature against Rangers in tonight’s second Glasgow derby of the season. Postecoglou stated as much yesterday when he claimed that the player has a chance [Sky Sports].

McGregor has been out since picking up a nasty-looking facial injury in the Scottish Cup win over Alloa a couple of weeks ago. The Celtic captain has, however, been in attendance in the 2 matches since then as the need for surgery appears unnecessary.

And as Postecoglou ponders whether to start him in the Glasgow derby tonight, he’s touched on the medical advice he’s received when it comes to re-integrating Callum back into the fold.

As quoted by the Daily Record, Ange said: “Knowing Cal he understands the responsibility that he has. He will only play if he feels he is at his best. If he doesn’t think he can be at his best then he will wait till that time is right. So I’m not doubting his courage or his intent to play, but he also wants to be at his best because he knows it is an important game and he wants to help in the right possible way.

“Has he exceeded the time of recovery? Yeah, absolutely. Whilst it was a pretty significant injury the medical advice we had was that he could slowly get reintegrated and hopefully with a mask he feels comfortable to play and hopefully he won’t be out for too long for us.”

Celtic fans set to see Callum McGregor masked up

It’s clear that this isn’t a decision Ange would even be thinking about if we were playing in any other fixture tonight. If Celtic were hosting St Mirren, for example, would there even be talk of Callum taking to the pitch?

Not that Celtic or McGregor will purposefully put his safety at risk. But it’s clear there’s extra significance on this match tonight. A significance that will have the Hoops itching to speed up the recovery process and bring him back a little earlier if possible.

It remains to be seen of course whether Callum actually does start. All signs point to him being included with Ange whipping up some pre-match excitement.

If Callum does make an appearance, it will be interesting to know whether he’ll be able to give 100%. For example, even if he’s wearing a mask, would he still be jumping up for aerial duels? That’s going to be a key part of tonight’s game.

You don’t get the sense that Ange would even be considering this if Callum can’t give everything tonight. So if he’s in that starting XI, it means we have our captain back fully fit and fully committed.

Hopefully, that’s exactly how things pan out.

In other news, Rival manager speaks highly of Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou; talks up “respect” ahead of derby