CALLUM McGREGOR has asked the Celtic fans to “trust the team” as they prepare for tonight’s Champions League play-off first leg against Kairat Almaty at Parkhead.
Brendan Rodgers’ men are stepping onto a £40million tightrope with a consolation prize of a place in the Europa League as the losers’ only safety net.
It’s make-or-break time again in Europe’s elite competition for Scotland’s title kings and the supporters have been clamouring for new faces to strengthen the squad for the rigours and challenges that lie ahead.
I’M IN CHARGE…Callum McGregor shows the way ahead.
The Hoops, though, have spent something in the region of a mere £3million this summer while picking up a reported £17.2million for Nicolas Kuhn from Como and £2million for Gustaf Lagerbielke from Sporting Braga.
Skipper McGregor understands the situation and says: “Everyone is impatient in football.
“Everybody wants the next new shiny thing and that’s just where we are. That’s the way the world is and obviously we have to keep progressing.
“The one thing I will say is we have to add quality.
“We don’t just want to add numbers for the sake of it because we’re getting close to the window and you think ‘we need bodies, we need bodies’.”
EYES ON THE BALL…Callum McGregor is a study in concentration.
McGregor, speaking to Sky Sports, added: “We need quality players and the guys who are here, the guys who have done really good work in the last 12 months, we have to trust them, as well.
“We have to trust the team. We are in good momentum, got some good results last year in the Champions League.
“We’ve started well, so we have to trust the team that’s there to go and do the job. Like everyone, we want quality players to come in and add to that and help.”
Celtic face the lengthy trip to Kazakhstan for the return leg on Tuesday before return for the first derby of the campaign at Ibrox five days later.
