Celtic boss confirms brilliant news ahead of Glasgow Derby

Celtic supporters have been getting good news this week. As the team and the fans prepare for Sunday’s Glasgow Derby away at Ibrox, there have been indications of nearly a full-strength squad finally being available to Brendan Rodgers. The club's social media team have just added to that by posting a picture of Callum McGregor being back in training.

McGregor has been absent since the Hoops won 7-1 against Dundee FC at Parkhead at the end of February. He was subbed off at half-time of that game. Many thought that he was being rested with the Hoops up 6-0 at the break but that was not the case.

The captain missed all of March, but the international break meant that he only missed four matches. Obviously, he could not feature for Scotland either.

McGregor is such an important player for the team that he will be given every chance to prove his fitness ahead of the Glasgow Derby. If Rodgers reckons his captain is ready to play a part in the game at Ibrox, it would be a major boost for Celtic.

Celtic boss confirms brilliant news ahead of Glasgow Derby

There is further good news for Celtic with regards to McGregor. As reported by The Scotsman, Rodgers said about his situation:

"We’ll do one final run with Callum tomorrow in our last session but he’s done remarkable to be back, he’s way ahead of schedule from what we thought.

“It just shows you his professionalism and how hard he’s worked so he’ll be involved in the squad, and if he is, then it’s great news for us in every capacity because we’ll have a clean bill of health, really, for probably the first time this season. But we’ll make a final call on that tomorrow.

“He’s the type of player who can probably get by at 80 per cent. He has that level, that quality. But you also have to think about the fact there are remaining games throughout the season. It’s just about being logical and finding out where he’s at with all his tests and measurements. He’s been training, and clearly his quality is there, but we just have to gauge whether he starts, whether he comes into the game or what involvement he has."

We may have to wait until the team lineup is released on Sunday before we find out what part, if any, McGregor will play in the match. That also applies to others who have been returning from injury recently. Several players have been on the comeback trail of late. 

Reo Hatate and Luis Palma are a couple of such players hoping to be involved again. The Japanese midfielder made his comeback last weekend with a great display against Livingston.

Palma is believed to be ahead of schedule in his recovery as well. If he comes through training well this week he could provide an added option from the bench, even if he does not start.