CALLUM McGREGOR admitted last night that he cringes a little when he looks at the SPFL Premiership standings and sees Celtic sitting no better than mid-table.
A resounding 5-0 away win against Ross County on Saturday moved Celtic to fifth with a game in hand, although they are still fully six points behind surprise early league leaders Hamilton Academical. For all the transition at the club under manager Ronny Deila, and the rigours of Europa League duty, the 21-year-old McGregor clearly agrees with captain Scott Brown that results should be better and feels it is high time that the club pieced together a consistent run of victories.
Next for the Parkhead side is the first of two back-to-back Europa League meetings with Romanian outfit FC Astra Giurgiu at Celtic Park on Thursday night.
"Is it embarrassing to look at the league table? It is a bit," admitted McGregor. "The new manager has come into the club and there has been some transition, but we should be good enough to win our games every week. Hopefully, Dingwall kick-starts things and we can go again on Thursday."
In addition to his ambitions at club level, McGregor has his sights set on reclaiming his Scotland squad place for next month's Euro 2016 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland.
The midfielder, who made a scoring return for Celtic after injury during the 5-0 rout of County in Dingwall, won a maiden call-up for the international team for the meeting against world champions Germany, only to be omitted for last week's double header against Georgia and Poland, Gordon Strachan preferring to include his under-21 contemporaries Ryan Gauld and Stevie May.
The meeting with Martin O'Neill, Roy Keane and company on home soil at Celtic Park has captured the imagination and McGregor is desperate to play a part.
"Of course dropping out of the Scotland squad was disappointing," said McGregor, whose goal in Dingwall was his fifth for the club, all of which have come away from home.
"When I was picked for the Germany game, I said at the time it had come early in my career and it was a bonus. My main focus is to play well and score goals for Celtic, but if I keep playing well and doing that, there is no reason why I can't get back into the set-up. It's not a case of waiting to see what happens, I'm really trying to get back in. I've had a taste of it, I really enjoyed it and I want more. But as a footballer, you have to take both sides."
Kris Commons, at the centre of intrigue over a prospective move to join his old manager Neil Lennon in Bolton and who was omitted on Saturday with a recurrence of a gluteal injury, should be available for Celtic's meeting with Astra. So too should Emilio Izaguirre, despite being stretchered off the field on Saturday.
"I feel we can win our Europa League section," said McGregor. "We have started well with the draw and the win and I definitely feel that if we can beat Astra on Thursday night we can go on and top the group. Six points from the two matches would be massive for us and that's what we're looking for."
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