Former Celtic winger Lewis Morgan is certainly making a name for himself in the MLS, having earned a move from Inter Miami to New York Red Bulls and hitting the ground running at his latest club. Last week we reported on the former Celt bagging a hat-trick and it’s that type of former hat has Morgan’s eyes fixed on impressing the Scotland manager Steve Clarke’s eye ahead of the World Cup.

On four occasions Morgan was an unused substitute in the Euro campaign and now he’s looking to make the breakthrough and he believes his form stateside can propel him into Clarke’s plans.

“Personally, I always want to be the best player in the league. It was my mindset last year and although it didn’t really transpire that way it doesn’t change my opinion this year,” Morgan told Sky Sports.

“Being a forward player you always want to get double figures for goals and assists. And I think playing well here and trying to get myself back into the Scotland national team is the big aim for this year, but that’s only going to happen if I play well for Red Bulls.

READ THIS…“I knew when I had two, I was going to get three,” Lewis Morgan

1️⃣… 2️⃣… 3️⃣… Hat trick for Lewis Morgan! #RBNY pic.twitter.com/qdUuYWI9Kb

— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) March 5, 2022

“That’s the biggest honour a player could have. My two caps were in friendlies but it’s still the biggest honour that I’ve had in my career so times that by 100 – if you’re going to be representing your country at the World Cup. It’s every boy’s dream growing up in Scotland.

“So that would be fantastic but I’ve got to make sure every single week I’m performing here to give myself the best possible chance and I fully intend on doing that,” the former Celtic winger stated.

Looking back at the way things panned out for him at Celtic, Morgan points to injury hampering his chances and also the difficulty in breaking into the side when there were so many top players in the Celtic squad. He reckons it was the best thing for him to make a move away from Celtic so that he could get regular first team football and with that he’d be able find his groove.

1st December 2019; Global Energy Stadium, Dingwall, Highland, Scotland; Scottish Premiership Football, Ross County versus Celtic; Lewis Morgan of Celtic is fouled by Liam Fontaine of Ross County

“At Celtic I was still getting to play a part in the squad but mostly I was playing as a 9 – up front myself. Probably wasn’t showing myself in the best light. I didn’t really get the rub of the green or the bounce of the ball when I went to Celtic, with injuries and what not,” Morgan admitted.

“I just wanted to get away and somewhere where I was going to play more often. All credit to Celtic that we had such a strong squad that no-one is guaranteed that, but I did want to get somewhere where I knew I was going to play my own role more consistently. And I just thought for the benefit of my career that I left.

“The only thing that I wish was different were the injuries. When I went to Celtic I was flying – that first season with the Champions League qualifiers I felt brilliant. Then after having knee surgery I didn’t get my rhythm back for a while. There’s nothing I can do about it now. I still got to play in big games – Champions League, Europa League, cup finals.

“When you look at it like that there’s still positives for me to take although I didn’t perform how I wanted to perform. Everything happens for a reason and now I’m here and I’m enjoying my football – there’s no hard feelings or nothing towards it.

“After having surgery – especially on your knee – it’s tough to get that rhythm again. And when you are at a club like Celtic where you’re not going to be afforded five, six, seven games on the spin to get your knee feeling 100 per cent.

“I think I knew once I got back to playing regular football I knew I would start playing well and I hope that continues.”

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