Celtic midfielder Callum McGregor has said he was not surprised by the impact of impressive due, David Turnbull and Ismaila Soro who both came into the side and put in a stand-out performance against Lille.
As quoted by Glasgow Times, McGregor reiterated it was important to have competition for places within the squad and both have been close to getting that chance with similar displays at Lennoxtown each day.
Speaking about both Turnbull and Soro it sounds like the Celtic midfielder is making a public plea for them to start more games.
“That is what we need – boys to come in and really keep pushing the standard. Competition for places really drives the standard. It helps everyone raise their game. We need as many people as we can on the pitch and playing well. It is better for Celtic.”
“David was excellent. He played intelligently in the pockets of space. He was quite focal for us. There was a nice wee channel in there where he could find space and get on the ball. I thought the boys found him well on the half turn. When he got it he looked a real threat.
“Right throughout the game, he picked the right pass. He knew when to dribble and when to pass. Then obviously he got his goal. It was a great finish as well.
“He is a great lad, he has done really well since he came in and has trained very well. He has trained hard. He wants to learn and is learning from the players each day. His attitude is spot on. He was just waiting for that opportunity – and he grabbed it with both hands on Thursday night. I am delighted for him.
“There is no reason why he can’t get a bit of confidence from the goal and the performance and really kick on. Hopefully, we can keep pushing him, keep getting him in the team and he can keep delivering for us. That is exactly what we need at this point.
“Soro was excellent too. He’s a real talent. You saw the amount of times he won the ball back. He’s incredible. That is his game. He wins the ball and plays simple. He looks a top player. He’s been unlucky, but you need to keep working every day and his time will come. Hopefully, he starts to get a run because we need everyone playing well.”
With the poor performances this season, it is important that we have these players who can come in and freshen things up as they did on Thursday night.
These two, in particular, look destined to start over the next few games, putting forward their case brilliantly for games like the Scottish Cup final against Hearts next week.
This could provide us with the much-needed boost to get our season kick-started again after a slow start that has seen us fall behind.
We simply cannot just go back to the same personnel again after a brilliant performance from certain players the other night. Many fans will be left frustrated if that is the case come Sunday, but surely Lennon cant make that same mistake again?
Mcgregor is one of the players who should be dropped to accommodate them, his performances so far have been abysmal, marks no one at corners/free kicks, passing backwards more than forwards, been at fault for several goals conceded.
Totally agree-he is vastly overrated yet despite poor performances throughout the whole season he seems to have an automatic place. And if anyone looks at his poor displays it is always excused by the fact he has played so much football-he must have been the only professional world player who played during the unprecidented 5 month lockdown break!