The real reason Celtic captain Callum McGregor was dropped vs St Johnstone

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Celtic ended 2024 with a thumping win against St Johnstone to finish the year 14 points ahead of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

Celtic dominated St Johnstone as they put in a sterling performance to pile more misery on the bottom-of-the-table club as Nicolas Kuhn, Kyogo Furuhashi (2) and Daizen Maeda found the back of the net to score the Hoops’ 52nd goal of the Scottish Premiership season.

Brendan Rodgers named a Celtic team with five changes and one of those changes was to leave Callum McGregor on the bench.

Explaining the decision, Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers said the game against St Johnstone was a good opportunity to let his captain get ‘some recovery in the legs’.

Brendan Rodgers wanted to ‘take the shine off’ Celtic captain Callum McGregor

Rodgers told BBC Radio Scotland, “Well, Paulo Bernardo will play in that position like he did away at Motherwell.

“So, with Callum, he virtually plays in a lot of the games, but every now and then it’s to take the shine off him, a little.

“But like any other player, he is human and he needs to get some recovery in the legs, especially with the closeness of all the games.

“So, yeah, I know he’s there if I need him but he’s like every other player. He needs to recover at times and this is a chance for us to do it.”

Callum McGregor’s remarkable Celtic record vs Rangers ahead of Glasgow Derby

Callum McGregor is clearly one of Celtic’s most important players and Rodgers was correct to rest him albeit he did make an appearance in the second half of the St Johnstone win.

With Celtic’s next fixture against Rangers, 67 Hail Hail looks at McGregor’s record against the Ibrox club which backs up Rodgers’ decision to bench the Hoops captain against St Johnstone.

If Celtic can beat Rangers at Ibrox on Thursday then the title challenge from the Ibrox club is effectively over and Callum McGregor will be central to the Bhoys taking all three points.