Celtic target goalscoring attacking midfielder as ex-Rangers striker makes big Old Firm tickets call

We round up some of the main football stories across the Scottish game this Tuesday morning:

Celtic linked with Spertsyan

Celtic have been linked with Armenian midfielder Eduard Spertsyan, who currently plays in the Russian top flight with Krasnodar. Spertsyan, 25, had also been reportedly been monitored by Manchester City, Newcastle United and Ajax, and is keen to play in a different European league after spending his entire career in his country of birth. Eduard Spertsyan has been capped 25 times by Armenia and has scored 26 goals in 78 appearances for his club.

McGregor return would be huge boost

Armenian midfielder Eduard Spertsyan has been linked with Celtic.

Assistant boss John Kennedy is excited about the lift Celtic could get if Callum McGregor declares himself fit for Sunday’s top-of-the-table showdown with Rangers. The influential Hoops captain missed all four of his team’s matches in March but Celtic hope to welcome McGregor back to training this week, with a view to him being involved at Ibrox on Sunday. “He’s the captain, the leader of the group, everyone turns to him,” he said. “The good thing is that outwith Cal, we have other good leaders in Joe (Hart), Cameron (Carter-Vickers), Alistair Johnston and these boys. They can pick up when he’s not there. But as the manager has said, hopefully Cal will be back in training in the middle of the week. We’ll get him through that, then the manager will decide later in the week whether or not he’s fit to play. Coming into this run-in, when you start to get all your players back in the group, it definitely makes us stronger. You can sense that. It gives us more belief and more momentum to go into the important part of the season.”

Kuhn getting stronger

New Celtic forward Nicolas Kuhn feels he is now showing the best version of himself after arriving from Rapid Vienna in January. The German had his wisdom teeth removed before moving to Glasgow and toiled initially to make an impact. However, he feels his performances are getting better. “For me personally, it took some time for me to get used to the new system,” he said. “But now it feels like it’s getting better and better with every game. I’m happy that I am back to my normal weight and I have my strength back. I’m maybe not 100 per cent just yet, but I’m definitely getting better and better.”

McCulloch wants fans behind goal

Former Rangers forward Lee McCulloch would like to see full away allocations restored at Old Firm matches in the future. It was announced on Friday that from next season, both clubs would give up five per cent of their stadium for away fans for the derbies, but McCulloch – who played for the Ibrox club between 2007 and 2015 – would like fans restored behind the goal. “It would be great to get back to the old days where the Celtic fans at Ibrox had the full stand behind the goals, and the Rangers fans had that same allocation because it makes that day super special,” he said.