Ange Postecoglou has been handing out some promising news ahead of tomorrow’s Glasgow Derby at Celtic Park.
First up the manager confirmed that captain Callum McGregor is back in training and back in contention for the game after missing both the Hearts win at Tynecastle and the brilliant late win with ten men over Dundee United on Saturday.
“Cal trained with the team today but I’m not really sure about tomorrow. I’ll make a decision on that later.”
🎥”Callum trained today, I’ll make a decision on that later…. this game is most important for our supporters and it’s a chance to go top”
🍀 Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou gives an update on the availability of captain Callum McGregor and others ahead of the Old Firm tomorrow pic.twitter.com/tmnt8yBFUM
— Clyde 1 Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) February 1, 2022
Having McGregor back would be a huge lift to the squad and support alike, and there was further positive news with the manager admitting Daizen Maeda’s limited gametime – he played a total of 54 minutes over both World Cup qualifiers with China and Saudi Arabia – will mean, although Maeda won’t be considered for a starting berth he has a good chance at least of making the bench, should he report back to the club with no ill effects from his time away.
“We’ll see how he is. He gets in tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. He played 20 minutes, I haven’t seen the game and we haven’t spoken to him. “I will probably have a chat with him tomorrow when he lands and see how he feels. He definitely won’t start but he has a chance for the squad. We will just see how he is.”
Maeda is due back in to Scotland tomorrow morning, as too will Tom Rogic, however Ange certainly doesn’t think Rogic will play any less than the entire 90 minutes in his World Cup qualifier for Australia against Oman, which kicks off at 4pm, and as such the Aussie playmaker is all but ruled out of contention for tomorrow night’s game.
“Tommy will play (for Australia). He will play 90 minutes so you can pretty much rule him out.”
While the news on Tom Rogic is to be expected, the positivity from the manager regarding the possible availability of Callum McGregor and Daizen Maeda is the perfect boost ahead of a match where victory would see Celtic top the league.
One player who definitely will not be involved tomorrow is Kyogo, who is suffering from a similar injury to David Turnbull and Ange once again told the hacks to do the maths, telling them that he is NOT a liar and when he said weeks last week he meant it.
🗣️”I’m not a liar… weeks means weeks”
Ange Postecoglou responds to speculation Kyogo could return from injury and play against Rangers tomorrow night. pic.twitter.com/jPDl7TYBja
— The Go Radio Football Show (@GoFootballShow) February 1, 2022
And as we have already reported here is a more detailed interview with Ange on Sky Sports…
▪️ New signings ✍️
▪️ Daizen Maeda 🔙
▪️ Having fans back for the derby 💚
▪️ The title race 🏆
▪️ Could Callum McGregor be fit? 👀Hear from Ange Postecoglou ahead of the Celtic vs Rangers tomorrow, live on Sky Sports 📺 pic.twitter.com/d4EzFEQmDW
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) February 1, 2022
