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Callum hurt by England snub but Leigh double eased pain as Celtic team-mates celebrated in group chat
to knock my confidence. I will come back, work hard and when the games start I will hopefully show I can get there.
“Scotland is always a target. Obviously I’m a bit disappointed I wasn’t involved but I just need to focus on my club stuff and getting back in.
“We have a lot of good midfielders and it’s up to me to prove I can get in there, play well for Celtic and get a call.
“I think that was my best season for Celtic. You look at what we achieved as a squad and the number of games I played.
“I played in big games and scored in big games, it was a real good season and I take confidence from that going into a new season.”
McGregor was called up for Scotland for the Germany clash in September but never got a sniff.
He reckons he’s a far more rounded player these days. The schemer said: “You first break in and everybody thinks, ‘What a player this boy is’.
“I scored in a Champions League game and everything went straight away in an upwards direction.
“I was in the squad and never got stripped that night and naturally you take a bit of a dip.
“You begin to realise you’ve still got a lot to learn as a player and being part of a team. One hundred first-team games later I feel a far more complete player now.
“I feel ready to handle international football now. It’s just up to me to try to catch the eye and if I get in great. “I try to look after my Celtic career first and foremost and any international recognition after that is a bonus.” McGregor knows the best way to catch the eye is to turn it on in the Champions League qualifiers. But he’s well aware the fight to get to the group stages is about as dangerous as it gets. He suffered the mauling in Malmo as well as the joy of Beer Sheva and is expecting another rollercoaster this summer. He said: “The contrast between Malmo and Beer Sheva is huge. “You get through and everybody is talking about it. Your whole family, your friends. It’s a big thing and we will try to draw on that experience going into these qualifiers.
“The games are hard. Going into them you try to prepare as much as you can but you are only five or six games into your campaign so there is going to be that rustiness.
“If you get caught cold one night it could be all over. We are under no illusion going into these qualifiers – it’s going to be even tougher than last year.
“Last year it was a bit of the unknown. You don’t know how you are going to play as a team and the manager knew he had to win the games and we did.
“This time round we will have a better idea of how to play and maybe dominate the games a bit more than we did last year.”
● Celtic’s pre-season clashes with Linz tomorrow, Rapid Vienna on Saturday and Slavia Prague a week today will be screened live on Celtic TV. For details and subscriptions go to www.celticfc.tv
Yes I was disappointed but it is not going to knock my confidence CALLUM McGREGOR