Former Celtic Captain Scott Brown is delighted to see his old teammate Callum McGregor return to the team and believes it will give the side a massive boost.
Having departed the club last summer, Brown passed the baton to McGregor to take up the role as captain with Ange Postecoglou giving his seal of approval to the Scotland international.
Both men differ in their approach to the captaincy but one thing that has remained constant is the standards set by both with them always wanting to win games and be the best.
It was evident how much last season meant to McGregor as the club used video footage from the dressing room at Hampden where he showed his passion to the boys before the Premier Cup final against Hibs.
Celtic have been without McGregor for a number of weeks now after he sustained a knee injury in the away tie to RB Leipzig.
Having been out the side for so long, he will be raring to go as he is expected to feature in the friendly match planned against French side Rennes in Portugal on Saturday morning, a week before domestic action resumes as the Scottish champions make the journey north to Aberdeen.
Brown knows McGregor better than most and was delighted to see him win two trophies in his maiden season as captain and hoops that his return to the team will boost the side to continue their domination.
“He certainly won’t allow complacency to set in and that’s one reason why Ange will be delighted to have him back at this critical stage in the season,” said Scott Brown speaking to the Daily Record.
“You need to make sure you maintain those standards and focus on the next game. It can be a mistake to look too far ahead of yourselves. But they’ve got two cups there to be won and they’ll want to make sure they challenge for them. Most importantly, they’ll want to win the league and they’re obviously in a great position to do that at this point.
“But they have to push on in the second half of the campaign and having a guy like Callum back in there to drive things from the inside will be a massive help in achieving all of that.
“They’re in great shape for the second half of the season. They’ve had a winter break and they’ll enjoy a training camp in some warm weather I’d imagine.
“From there I’m quite sure they’ll be ready to kick on again. You can see that they are a good team with a good understanding of each other. They’ve got great energy but that should be a given, especially at Celtic.
“But for them to be scoring the amount of goals they’re scoring and playing such entertaining football shows what they are all about. Having Callum back out there on the pitch will only make them stronger and keep those standards high.”
It will be a welcome sight for many to see the 29-year-old return and there is no doubt the team will be boosted by his presence.
