'When you rhyme off those milestones ...' - Callum McGregor explains what underpins his Celtic success

Living in the moment, the primary concern for Celtic is Saturday afternoon’s trip to Ibrox. That’s where more bragging rights and the opportunity to navigate the season unbeaten by their Glasgow rivals is at stake.

Callum McGregor during a Celtic training session at the Lennoxtown training centre, on May 12, 2023, in Lennoxtown, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

But the game also offers them the chance to lay down some solid psychological foundations ahead of next term. “Of course, there’s always something to play for even if the trophy is done and dusted,” acknowledged the Parkhead captain Callum McGregor. “They will want to go into next season with a bounce on the back of a positive result in the final league game. It’s important we aim to do the same. It’ll be a good game as both teams will go at it. But we want maximum points.

The numbers have been important to the leader of men, in a season where he earned his 50th Scotland cap, made his 400th Celtic appearance, lost just one Premiership match, bagged two pieces of silverware – perhaps, three if they defeat Inverness Caledonian Thistle in next month’s Scottish Cup final. If they do, that would make him the only player in world football to have claimed five domestic trebles.

“You look at how many domestic leagues there are around the world, and it doesn’t really matter what level you’re at, to have that consistency and that hunger to win and win again is something that drives me,” said the man who is on the shortlist for the PFA Scotland Player of the Year award, which will be presented on Sunday night. “To have that number of trebles would be really special but I don’t think you get there unless you have the mindset that you want to be as good as you can be.

“Every single day you need to push yourself and it becomes a combination of everyone else doing the same. When you rhyme off those milestones it makes me feel good and proud of what I have achieved. But, again, it’s all underpinned by being in a good Celtic team.”

It is a Celtic team that will face a partisan crowd on Saturday, as their own punters are shut-out of Ibrox. But they can enter the arena with their heads held high after wrapping up the title last weekend. Though buoyed by their achievements and keen to turn the screw on their city rivals, who will end the term empty-handed, McGregor says Celtic still need to be wary

“There’s no such thing as a dead rubber in these games. There’s always something to play for. You’re playing for pride, your supporters – you’re playing for the badge. These players understand that, which is part of the reason we’re been so good in these games.

“It’s another good test for us to go there with no supporters, go in there with a siege mentality and try to get a positive result. We can go there full of confidence as we go there as champions and we can show our personality. But they will want to dent us.

“We need to go in with a collective mentality. We know everyone will be against us but we have to use it, harness that energy, and try to turn the crowd against them. We'll be aggressive and try to get as much as we can from the game.”