McGregor fired up by hunger for more silverware

WHEN the Premiership fixtures are released this morning, Celtic captain Callum McGregor will be able to view the path towards retaining the title. It’s 16 honours and counting for the Parkhead midfielder since breaking into the first team. But his hunger for more remains undiminished. Celtic weren’t many people’s favourites to come out on top last time around after Ange Postecoglou inherited a chaotic situation in the wake of the failed bid for ten in a row. Appointing McGregor as skipper was one of the Australian’s first acts to restore equilibrium. It was rewarded by a typical consistency of performance as the 29-year-old set on-field standards. Recovering from a sticky start, Celtic showed superb consistency after the winter break to finish four points in front of Rangers. More hard work lies ahead when the new campaign gets underway at the end of next month. But McGregor stresses motivation won’t be an issue. Reflecting on how much success last term meant, he said: ‘You never get bored of winning. When you’re at a club like this you have to be like that every year. I always want more, I always want to try to improve. ‘In football, if you lose that hunger then you may as well not play. When you get used to winning it just becomes a habit and when it gets taken away from you it hurts even more. That’s the time when you’ve got to come back fighting. That’s what we’ve done.’ McGregor believes the squad assembled by Postecoglou over the past two windows has more potential to unleash. Additions will also be made this summer, with a £6million permanent deal for

Cameron Carter-Vickers having already been completed. As Sportsmail first revealed, Dundee United goalkeeper Benjamin Siegrist is a target, while talks over Argentinian left-back Alexandro Bernabei and a £6m return for winger Jota are also continuing. McGregor told Sky Sports: ‘It was important that we managed to win the league and bring success back to the club, bring a good feeling back for the supporters and this new group of players. The great thing is it seems like this group of players are just getting started and there’s more to come.’