Matt O’Riley knew Callum McGregor was a top man the minute he walked in the door at Celtic Park in January.
But it was when the skipper braved a broken face to take on Rangers the new recruit from MK Dons realised the long serving Celt was a proper leader of men.
O’Riley has hit the ground running since his bargain £1.5m switch two months ago and a lot has been down to the captain making him feel right at home.
The playmaker – who has been called up for the Denmark under 21s – can see it’s McGregor who makes Celtic tick.
He sets the tone in training, supports the side while laying out the demands.
But more than most, McGregor leads from the front.
The 28-year-old was at it again at Tannadice on Monday night as the Hoops cruised in to the Scottish Cup semi-finals and set up a collision course with fierce rivals Rangers.
McGregor ran the show all night and grabbed the crucial opening goal to send Celts on their way as a potentially tricky evening at Tannadice turned out to be fairly stress free.
The same can’t be said about the coming weeks.
Celtic are gearing up for an epic April – which could incredibly contain THREE Old Firm showdowns.
Ange Postecoglou’s men are on Premiership duty at Ibrox on April 3, they will clash again at Hampden on the 17th and are likely to meet for the final league encounter at Parkhead in the first couple of games after the split.
Things are about to get wild but O’Riley is feeling more relaxed with his McGregor around as he admitted the sight of the skipper in the iron mask against Rangers last time out was inspirational.
O’Riley said: “Yeah. It wasn’t a game he was going to miss was it? He does bring that assurance and calmness to the team, a real presence.
“He’s been involved in so many games so having him there is so important.
“He’s top. On my first day he welcomed me really nicely so from that moment on I could see he was a proper man, a proper guy.
“He steps up every day in training. He always drives it, aways demands the best from himself and everyone else. He’s a proper captain.”
McGregor could be leading Celtic towards something pretty special this season. There are major hurdles in the way with an Old Firm triple header to be negotiated if the Hoops are to hang on to hopes of a Treble.
But the fact there’s even talk of a clean sweep at this stage is remarkable given the base point Postecoglou had to jump off last August.
Three defeats in his first six league games looked to have strangled the title bid before the clocks went back.
But since losing at Livingston last September, the big Aussie’s side have racked up 30 domestic games unbeaten to fire themselves in to the frame to make history.
O’Riley didn’t bat an eyelid when the Scottish Cup draw was made because the manager has got the squad convinced they are a match for anyone.
The 21-year-old said: “That’s the mindset we have, it has to be like that. It comes from the manager. He really believes we can beat anyone and that transfers to the boys.
“You see it on the pitch, we really believe in ourselves.”
Celtic have turned on the style at times this term but they’ve also found different ways to win over the 30 game run.
O’Riley admitted they went through a spell when it was a bit of a grind but he feels the side are hitting top form again right in time for the business end of the season.
He said: “We spoke about it. I think the level dropped a little bit performance wise. It can happen for whatever reasons. There’s been a lot of games this season already.
“But we rectified it quickly. The training standards have always been really high.
“As long as we drive that every day it will translate on to the pitch.
“Attitude is important. The manager has said our off-the-ball work rate will win us games and we showed that the other night.
“We worked really hard as a team and when we do that we are a hard team to beat.”
O’Riley wants to keep the foot down but he’ll do his best to leave the talk of the clean sweep for others.
It was job done on Tayside and he’ll look forward to Hampden but the schemer won’t take the eye of the ball before then.
He said: “Everyone is aware of it at the back of our minds, and that has to be the main goal.
“But if you look at it from that point of view you can get distracted from the task ahead – which is Ross County.
“You are better off if you stay in the moment and focus on game by game.
“It feels good to be in the semi-final. The vibe in the changing room is good, everyone is happy.
“I thought we managed the game well overall the other night.
“We were pretty calm when we saw the draw, to be honest. We have Ross County on Saturday to focus on, so we’re not thinking too much about it.
“We’ll take every game as it comes."
