Callum McGregor has discussed his return from injury and current fitness post-match this afternoon.
With McGregor playing his first game since February against Dundee this afternoon, the Celtic captain came off the bench for the last 25 minutes at Ibrox.
The Celtic captain suffered an Achilles injury at Celtic Park against Tony Docherty’s side and was substituted at halftime after scoring minutes earlier.
McGregor said: [Sky Sports], “Obviously, it’s a tough game to come back into. I haven’t had a lot of time on the training pitch, but you know, I wanted to be here with the group and try to do my bit.
“So, hopefully, just slow and steady, and just sort of build up and hopefully start to feel better.”
McGregor’s return from injury was a welcome sign, but it was clear that he was nowhere near 100%.
Even when he came off the bench, he looked uncharacteristically slow, indicating that he is still recovering.
With Celtic in action against St Mirren at Celtic Park in six days, the Scottish midfielder will have just under a week to further recover and work on his fitness.
There’s a good chance he may very well start the game, with Tomoki Iwata proving a stable presence but certainly not to the level of McGregor.
Celtic may look to manage McGregor’s minutes, though.
With one more Glasgow derby in the league to come, Rodgers will want him to start that game.
This could mean we see McGregor on the bench for some games and substituted earlier than we have been used to this season when he does start.
