Celtic’s Relief as Covid-hit International friendly cancelled, Elvis in drop Calmac call

Callum McGregor should be left out of the Scotland line-up that will face Serbia tomorrow night in the Euros Play-off Final, according to a former Celtic defender. And it looks like four Celtic stars will be spared international action amid yet another outbreak of Covid-19.

Stephen Pressley, speaking on BBC Sportsound last night, reckoned that the Celtic midfielder should make way for Stuart Armstrong to come into the team. Armstrong missed out on the semi-final against Israel after testing positive for Covid-19 and talking about Israel, it looks like their friendly against Norway has been cancelled after yet another outbreak of Covid in the Israeli camp.

Celtic lost the services of both Hatem Elhamed and Nir Bitton after both players caught the virus during that semi-final meet-up and of course Celtic also lost the services of Ryan Christie due to his close contract to Armstrong.

The cancelled Norway v Israel friendly affects four Celtic players, the two aforementioned Israeli internationals plus Norway’s Kris Ajer and Moi Elyounoussi. With Ajer struggling with the groin injury picked up in Lille in the Europa Cup and aggravated at Fir Park on Sunday, the cancellation is good news for Neil Lennon.

The Cynic’s reporter Lewis Laird reports on this: “The friendly match between Israel and Norway that was set to take place tonight has been cancelled by Norwegian authorities Celtic’s Nir Bitton, Hatem Elhamed and Mohamed Elyounoussi were all expected to feature in this game

“This comes after Israel striker Monas Dabbur tested positive for Covid-19 and team-mate Bibras Natcho was forced into self-isolation Discussion took place and it was decided that the fixture would not go ahead as a precaution.”

The friendly match between Israel and Norway that was set to take place tonight has been cancelled by Norwegian authorities

Celtic’s Nir Bitton, Hatem Elhamed and Mohamed Elyounoussi were all expected to feature in this game

— Lewis 🍋 (@LewisLaird01) November 11, 2020

So with these four Celtic player now not playing, Pressley is arguing that McGregor should join them by sitting out the Serbia v Scotland final.

“Just to make it clear to all the Celtic supporters out there, I am a huge fan of McGregor!” Pressley told BBC Sportsound. Fellow pundit James McFadden asked the former Hearts captain if he was taking into account the importance of this game. “Just not in the biggest game in the last 20 years?” he asked Pressley.

“Wait a sec, Faddy! I’m not saying ‘don’t play him’, but here is the debate,” Pressley responded. “It’s a game where, in my opinion, Serbia will have a lot of ball. We’ll be asked to defend.

“One of the most important aspects of our team is the ability to defend and then counter with speed. That is a huge part of it and I don’t think that is McGregor’s strength.

“McGregor is a really good player when you’re dominating the ball, because that is his strength. But with a player like Armstrong, he’s really good defensively, out of possession and also exceptional at breaking at speed.

“He has the ability to run in behind and score goals. That’s the one area of debate, in my opinion. It’s not that I don’t think McGregor’s a really good player, I just think this particular game might suit a different type of player in that position.”