Callum keen to tick one more box in Europe

CALLUM McGregor’s ears may be ringing with his manager’s praise but the eyes remain wide open.

Celtic’s go-to man for the big European occasions, and Thursday night’s visit of Valencia promises to be that, won’t try to escape the fact that a top-10 Spanish team good enough to finish just outside the Champions League places last season will be favourites against even an in-form Scottish side.

Should they beat Valencia, then it’s the one thing this group of players have yet to do, to win a knock-out tie in Europe.

“If we got through would represent progression for us season after season in Europe,” said McGregor. “You could probably say that this is a harder draw than last year’s but, then again, it’s good to test yourself.

“Having so many young Scottish players in the side, coming up it against such strong opposition can only be a good thing for us. You want to test yourself against the best and, by doing that, you should come out the other side as a better footballer.

“I watch the bigger La Liga games involving Barcelona and Real Madrid but you realise that foreign opponents will be at a high level technically so we pretty much know what we’ll be coming up against.

“That will help us, too, in that we’re moving up in class and the speed of thought has to improve and you also need to move the ball quicker. Being in that type of environment makes you a better player.

“I think that the night we beat RB Leipzig provided the blueprint for us and, if we can turn in a similar display against Valencia, we should be all right.”