Callum McGregor is looking to send shockwaves across Europe when Celtic head for Dortmund.
The Hoops skipper wants to see the Scottish champions’ name in lights as they bid to pick up a famous Champions League victory in front of the Yellow Wall. Brendan Rodgers and his troops are heading for Germany on matchday two of the newly revamped league phase as they bid to back up their 5-1 win over Slovan Bratislava with a famous result on the road. The Parkhead outfit head out in the perfect place having maintained their perfect league start with a thumping 6-0 win over St Johnstone.
McGregor said: “That’s what the Champions League is about, trying to send shockwaves through the competition. Of course we know it’s going to be hugely difficult, they’ve got some real top, top players. There’s real speed at the top end as well, so we have to be careful in transition. But we want to go and test ourselves against these guys and with confidence to see what we can do. Off the back of our game, we go there with confidence. We want to play the right way, attack the game and see where we end up.
“We have to attack the games with belief in the way that we want to play the game. There’s been a real good building block for about 12 months now. There’s a real good profile [to the squad] and the team are looking in good shape. Confidence is high so we have to try to be ourselves and go and take the game to Dortmund. We’ll go and try to get a positive result.”
Meanwhile, legendary Celtic skipper Scott Brown – now in charge at Ayr United – has been told he is Scottish Premiership class and he CAN achieve that dream at Somerset Park. He was one of the names in the running for the vacant St Johnstone job but pulled out the race and put pen to paper on an extended deal with the Scottish Championship side.
He’s started the season impressively with five wins and three draws from eight league outings to leave his side sitting in top spot – having played two more games than nearest challengers Falkirk and Livingston. Loan star Jay Henderson is loving life under Broony in Ayrshire and he is certain he will be in the dugout in the top flight in the near future whether that be at Ayr or a chance elsewhere.
He said: “I’m loving working with the gaffer. It’s a compliment to him and us that someone from a higher league was looking at him. I can speak for all the lads when I say I’m glad he and Steven (Whittaker) have stayed. It’s been great working under the manager since I came – he was a big reason for me coming here in the summer.
“He can definitely be a Premier League manager and it would be great if that was with us. You can tell by the player he was and the demands he sets that he’s just a winner. So I do think he will manage in the Premier League whether it be here or getting a crack somewhere else in future.”
Elsewhere, Dermot Gallagher insists the decision to chop off Daizen Maeda’s goal at St Johnstone after a VAR intervention for a foul from Auston Trusty on Graeme Carey was the CORRECT call. The game was level at 0-0 at the point of the incident, but it never proved costly with the Hoops hitting six on the night to crush caretaker boss Andy Kirk and his troops at McDiarmid Park.
He said: “It’s a brilliant spot by the VAR because when I saw this clip I thought ‘Why’s he on the floor?’. But he caught him on the way through and the goal was disallowed correctly but whether it’s a red card I’m not sure.”
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