COMEBACK Bhoy Callum McGregor reckons Celtic are ready to go “full throttle” when the Premiership restarts against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday.
The Hoops skipper played 78 minutes of the bounce game against Rennes in Portugal yesterday, as CQN reported.
It was a work-out – won 4-3 by the French side – designed to help bring McGregor and the players up to speed in their first organised 90 minutes since the 2-1 victory over Ross County at Parkhead on November 12.
The 29-year-old onfield inspiration had been missing in action since limping off with a knee injury in the first-half of the 3-1 Champions League loss to RB Leipzig in Germany on October 5.
WELCOME BACK…Callum McGregor talks to Celtic TV after the work-out against Rennes.
McGregor has been forced onto the sidelines for 11 games and was delighted to get in some minutes against the Ligue 1 club where Matt O’Riley rifled in a double and Kyogo Furuhashi provided the other.
A tricky trip to the north east is now on the agenda and the Scotland international is ready to play his part as the champions return to league action after completing the first half of the crusade with a nine-point advantage over their nearest challengers.
McGregor said: “There’s nothing like playing football, it’s the best job in the world and we’ve come back in, worked hard this week and we’re ready for the real stuff again.
“The week’s been tough with some big numbers in there in training. That was the aim for the week to really try and get as much physical work into the boys as possible, finish with a strong game, recover tomorrow, then full throttle on the games coming.
“You’re off for two or three weeks and you start to miss it already.
BACK ON THE BEAT…skipper Callum McGregor hopes to be patrolling the midfield against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday afternoon.
”To get back to full training, play today and get back in after a long period off with the injury, it was just good to be back on the pitch and in about the boys.”
McGregor, speaking to Celtic TV, added: “I’ve been trying to work as hard as I can and run as hard as I can and try and get as fit as possible for the games when we go back.
“That was the point of the week to try to get as much physical work into the lads as possible and that will be beneficial when we get back.
“You can’t replicate that, as soon as you go into a match scenario everything becomes a lot more competitive and as much as we try and keep the training levels as competitive as we can, you just can’t replicate the games.
“It was good just to get back amongst bodies and get myself moving and get used to the spaces again.”
