Fatigue not to blame for Hoops dropping points
Callum Mcgregor has refused to use fatigue as an excuse for his part in Celtic dropping points in Paisley on Friday night. The Hoops, who had Olivier Ntcham sent off in the first half for successive bookings, failed to break down a St Mirren side energised by the arrival of new manager Oran Kearney.
“It was a frustrating night,” said midfielder Mcgregor, who missed one of his side’s best opportunities in the 0-0 draw.
“When you go down 10 men you have to try to find a way to win the game. But while we dominated possession in the second half, we just couldn’t find a way to get that goal.
“It was just a final pass, it just wasn’t falling for us, and they had a decent shape and defended well.
“When I got through, I was expecting the boy to come but he dropped and I needed an extra touch – I just couldn’t quite get it out of my feet.
“Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t.”
It was the 25-year-old’s third game in seven days, coming off the back of his appearances for Scotland against Belgium and Albania. For different reasons both could be described as tough shifts for the players involved.
Belgium, currently ranked as the second best team in the world, ran Alex Mcleish’s men ragged in 4-0 win.
And on their return to Hampden on Monday, Scotland had the results of the weather as well to contend with in the country’s Nations League opener.
“The pitch was heavy for the Albania match and we went after them on it,” said Mcgregor. “But obviously we got the result we were after (a 2-0 victory) so I didn’t feel too bad after it.
“That hasn’t happened for us against St Mirren. It was just frustrating, which you get sometimes when you come to places like this and Kilmarnock. The opposition make life hard for you. “They were playing for their point, and especially when we went down to 10 men it was a great opportunity for them just to hold on. You have to give them credit, though, they were tight all night and there was probably a wee bit of the new manager coming in there as well to give the players a lift.
“It’s always difficult, the first game back from internationals, everyone’s away playing different systems so to get everyone back in and get a feel for the way we want to work can be hard sometimes.
“But we’ll try to take the positives out of it for Thursday and try to get a result.”
Thursday sees Celtic in action in a Europa League group reunion with Rosenborg, the Norwegian side they have already played, and beaten, in the Champions League qualifiers this season.
“It’s only been a couple of months since we played them, but that’s a good thing because we know exactly what we need in terms of prep and the way they play,” said Mcgregor.
“They are in good form so I’m sure they’ll fancy it, and want to get back at us for putting them out of one competition already so we just have to recover and prepare properly.
“It’s the first game in the group, we’re trying to achieve something in the Europa League so the first game is vital.
“Obviously we just have to start well, use the home advantage in this fixture, because then momentum can be so important.
“We’re not going to put pressure on ourselves by saying quarter finals or whatever – we’ve got a tough group, to be fair, so we need to make it out of that and then anything can happen.
“We need to start on Thursday night and try to gather some momentum there first though.
“From a personal point of view, I just want to play to a good standard, help the team, chip in with goals and assists.”