Ange Postecoglou admits Callum McGregor is the 'epitome' of the professional footballer and challenged any manager to tell the Celtic captain he isn't playing.
The Hoops skipper was playing with his slippers on against a fledgeling Spanish side as Steve Clarke's men produced heroics at the national stadium to end a 39-year wait for a win over La Roja. But for McGregor focus now turns on another potential Treble as a Celtic player and his second league title as captain. Postecoglou admits the league leaders can take pride in the resilience of the midfielder.
McGregor has already notched up a mammoth 31 games for Celtic this season as he marked 50 appearances for the Tartan Army this past week. Postecoglou insists ever resting or offering the 29-year-old a break would do 'no good' because he is always geared for the top level of the game. He also believes McGregor's lung-busting injury time run that saw him leave Barcelona wonder-kid Gavi on his backside shows the unreal dedication he possesses.
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He said: “I’m pleased for Callum firstly because I know how much it means for him to play for his country. As much as he is the captain of our club and the leader of our club, he just cherishes his national team representation.
“It was a big night for him, a big night for the team and a big night for the whole nation, I guess. It’s great because it builds belief in the whole group.
“I don’t think there is any doubt that Callum can perform at those levels but for him to do it with his national team is special. So you take great pride in that and we take great pride as a football club as well because he is our leader and he represents us on the national stage.
“I thought he was outstanding in both games, he played every minute. You saw in the last couple of minutes in the second game, he just has this real ability and determination to get every ounce out of his body, and that’s what he does every time he plays.”
On McGregor's injury time lung-bursting run, he added: “I would have preferred the ref blew full-time just before that, I thought the time was already up so I wasn’t sure why he was carrying on.
“But it’s no surprise. With other players who go into the national team window, you wonder how much they will play. But there is never any doubt that Callum will play all the time.
“He is, knock on wood, a pretty resilient individual, and he wants that, he thrives on that. If you kept him out or tried to rest him, I don’t think it would do him any good because he is just geared to always performing, and always performing at the highest level.
“So it didn’t surprise me that he was the one, in that last minute, who was still driving forward and driving the team forward. It just epitomises the person he is as much as the player.”
On injuries, he claimed: "The ones who are definitely out, James Forrest is still a fair bit off. Tony Ralston and Liel Abada picked up injuries with their national teams and it’s fair to say they will be a couple of weeks.
“Reo (Hatate) and Aaron (Mooy) are back in training but we will assess it on Saturday before we make a decision. I would suggest if it’s not this weekend, that they will probably be right for next weekend, but we will just see how they go. Everyone else is okay.”
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