Callum McGregor spoke to Rob McClean of Viaplay Sports after our home rout of St Mirren in the Scottish Cup and revealed that Celtic want that trophy this June. The Celtic captain missed out on this very competition last year as we faltered at the last hurdle that day in April – even though we took the lead through a wonderful Greg Taylor effort – and the captain admitted that he and his teammates are still hurting a bit from that one.
The Hoops midfielder was his usual self on this occasion in the strong showing at Celtic Park; calm, assured, industrious, and always willing to lead by example. His displays these days are such that you can set your watch to it and his undoubted ability is up there with the very best midfielders in our history. His leadership is growing by the game and he looks imperious out there every time he steps onto the field of play.
The academy graduate was pleased with the overall performance and victory against a side that had kept it very tight with the Scottish Premiership Champions until about 75 minutes, which the interviewer alluded to. St Mirren showed a steely determination and willingness to match the Bhoys’ work rate wherever we went on the pitch.
But our fantastic fitness levels which former manger, Gordon Strachan spoke about post-match – which can be read all about right here on The Celtic Star – just proved too much for the Saints’ players, and in the end led to Ange’s men putting on a bit of a show for the last 15 minutes or so of the game. That flurry saw a spate of goals scored by Reo Hatate (who grabbed a brace), Hyeongyu Oh, and Matt O’Riley.
McGregor was only too happy that Oh managed to open his account in the colours of the hoops and hopes it is the first of many for the man from South Korea. He even joked that it would have been even better had his initial shot went in instead of rebounding right to the feet of the man who was brought in to the club to replace the goals of Giorgos Giakoumakis!
On winning the Scottish Cup trophy itself this season, McGregor confirmed that the players all have their eyes on the prize as the empty feeling of missing out in 2022 still lingers whenever they think about the famous cup competition. He added: “It hurts us that we didn’t have it last season, so we’re gonna try and put that right!” Hopefully this is the year we can put it right and scoop it up as part of another Treble…
Watch Callum’s full interview with Viaplay Sports below…
🗣️ “It hurts us that we didn’t have it last season, so we’re gonna try and put that right!”@CelticFC captain Callum McGregor in conversation after the full-time whistle 👏#CELSTM | #ScottishCup | @ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/wfXYlHZVrI
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) February 11, 2023
Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate are outstanding footballers.
Matt O’Riley made a difference as well when he came on.
Ruthless last 20 mins.
Up the Celts 🍀
— Ryan Clifford (@Ryanclifford11) February 11, 2023
Paul Gillespie
