MIGHTY McGINN Celtic saviour McGregor earns Scots call but Lennon tips his man for a key role
NEIL LENNON last night claimed John McGinn is primed and ready to ride to the rescue of Gordon Strachan and Scotland’s World Cup midfield crisis.
And the Hibernian boss also franked the claims of Celtic’s Callum McGregor, who was called up to join McGinn in the squad after both midfield stars scored superb doubles in a Parkhead thriller.
Describing McGinn’s second-half performance for Hibs in the 2-2 draw with champions Celtic as ‘absolutely perfect’, Lennon backed his man to step up against Slovakia and Slovenia.
Scott Brown and Stuart Armstrong were ruled out through injury on Friday with no immediate additions made to the squad.
However, McGregor fired his fifth and sixth goals of the season at Parkhead yesterday to finally convince Strachan to enhance his pool with the 24-year-old.
When asked if regular squad man McGinn was ready to star for Scotland, Lennon said: ‘Yes, but whether he starts is another thing. He drove the game, broke the play up and scored two magnificent goals.
‘His performance is what you would want from a modern midfield player. I said he was worth £5million a couple of weeks ago — he’s worth a lot more now.
‘And the other boy’s not bad, McGregor, either. He wouldn’t look out of place in that Scotland team either.’