Calmac on Gaard as Great Dane checks in to provide more heavyweight competition for champs
CALLUM McGREGOR insists everyone at Celtic has to fight for their place in the starting line-up – even though he’s now in a square-go with a 6ft 4ins Scandinavian.
The Hoops captain has welcomed the arrival of Danish powerhouse Oliver Abildgaard this week from
Rubin Kazan, even if it does only add to the scrap for roles in the centre of the pitch.
McGregor’s talent, versatility and presence in this side means it’s unlikely he has been anything other than the first name on the team sheet unless he has lost a limb or his manager has ordered him to take a break.
But the skipper is sure the competition for places is what drives Celtic’s success bid this season.
McGregor said: “Of course, that’s always the challenge every year. You have to play your best football and continue to show people that you are a good player and hungry for more success.
“That is always the challenge at Celtic, when you get in the team to stay in the team and keep yourself at a really high level.
“The manager has built a strong squad, he’s said that ever since he came in, that he wanted to get as many good players into the building as he can.
“Ultimately, with the amount of games we have, everyone within this squad is going to play their part and that is what we have – a real team spirit.
“Everybody is connected, everybody knows their job and we are going to need every player when it comes to those really high-tempo matches.
“I feel we are equipped to really go and mount a challenge, so that’s what we want to do.”
McGregor will lead the Celtic side out at Parkhead
today against fierce foes Rangers and insists his side will be sticking to their gung-ho style.
“That’s the way the manager asks us to play all the time, to be honest,” added McGregor. “He asks us if we can play our best football in the next game and once that one is finished, he asks us to go again and replicate that or even get better.
“The message doesn’t change in terms of who we play or what competition we play in, we just approach it exactly the same as every other one and try to give our best performance in any given match. That’s the full focus of the players but we understand the consequence of winning the [Rangers] game, it obviously pushes us on a little bit more in the league.
“But we try not to focus too much on the outcome, it’s more about the performance and getting the mentality of the game and the gameplan right.
“Hopefully that will be the consequence of that and we’ll be in a good place come Saturday afternoon.
“The mentality and the mindset of the group is really strong.”