McGregor Eyeing Scotland Recall

Photo by Jeff Holmes Callum McGregor is still coming to terms with missing out on Scotland's mouth-watering double header against the Republic of Ireland and England and is determined to work his way back into Gordon Strachan's plans. The 21-year-old Celtic midfielder, having had a successful loan spell at Notts County last season, started the campaign with a debut goal for the Hoops in their Champions League qualifier against KR Reykjavik in Iceland. Four goals in seven matches earned him a call-up to Strachan's squad for the 2016 European Championship qualifying opener against Germany in Dortmund and it all looked to be on the upward curve for the former Celtic youth player. However, he was omitted for the Euro double-header against Georgia and Poland and is now fighting a battle to keep his regular starting place under club manager Ronny Deila, who took his side to the top of the Scottish Premiership for the first time on Sunday with a 2-1 win at Aberdeen. McGregor recognised the significance of speaking at Celtic Park after he helped launch the club's new paving stones Christmas offer on the recently-opened Celtic Way. Parkhead is gearing up to host the crucial Euro qualifier against Ireland on Friday night and the friendly match against England the following Tuesday. McGregor said: "It's disappointing but I'm still a young lad so I'll just take it as a learning experience and hopefully I'll be a better person and a better player for it. "Obviously the games being here makes it a bit more special. I've had the taste of it and really enjoyed it as well. "But I'm just trying to take the positives as much as I can. I'll have a rest this week and hopefully I'll be ready to go and get performances back up to the level they were at when I got the Scotland call up."