Callum McGregor, the Celtic midfielder, has set his sights on making it into Gordon Strachan’s Scotland squad for the forthcoming FIFA World Cup qualifier against England at Hampden in June 10th. The 23-year-old netted the opening goal on Sunday as Celtic saw off Rangers in the semi-final of the William Hill Scottish Cup to tee up the possible delivery of a domestic Treble, for only the fourth time in the club’s history.
McGregor has yet to book up for a summer holiday and although he has maintained that decision was made without thought of the June international calendar, there is every chance that he could find himself involved after impressing in the latter half of this season. Lauded by both his club manager and captain in recent weeks as one of the unsung catalysts of Celtic’s displays this term, McGregor could yet find himself with his first call up to the national side since 2014.
The midfielder has been capped at every level from the under-15 stage but although he was called into a senior squad three years ago when he first broke through into the Celtic team, he has yet to make an appearance. His performances at domestic level in the latter half of the season may cause that to change, with the midfielder’s growing maturity offering a plausible case for his suitability for international football.
“That would be great if it came but for me I just need to keep doing what I am doing for Celtic,” said McGregor. “With all the different experiences that I have had, Champions League and big games like that and on Sunday, I think I would be more prepared to go in and do a job. I wasn’t sure what time we were getting off so I have deliberately not booked anything. We will see what happens.”
Scotland’s win over Slovenia at Hampden last month effectively kept the game against England on June 10th alive. There were six Celtic players called into that squad, a number that prompted Barry Ferguson, the former Rangers and Scotland midfielder, to suggest that Scotland fans heading to see the country in action at Hampden would require a green and white scarf.
Certainly, if McGregor’s performances for Celtic have caught the attention of Strachan – who was at Hampden on Sunday – then there would be nothing strange about walking into a dressing room full of familiar faces. McGregor formed a central trio at the weekend with Scott Brown and Stuart Armstrong and it will be interesting to see if a system that has proved successful with Celtic is invoked for Scotland.
“As you said we played really well on Sunday and the time that we have played together we have looked good,” he said. “We have looked a threat and if that is something the manager looks at then great but my main priority is to kick on for Celtic and keep doing so well. You saw that in the game that there were so many Celtic boys in the squad. That would help me obviously if I was to get the call because there would be so many familiar faces. That would be good.
“There are a lot of Celtic boys in the squad now and I think that can only help Scotland. We know each other’s game so if you can build a squad around that you’re off to a good start.”
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