Martin O’Neill is set to be boosted by the return of one of Celtic‘s brightest young talents for their first post-split Premiership fixture against Falkirk.
McGregor convinced Celtic can win the league
Celtic captain Callum McGregor is keen to finish his career at Parkhead and believes his side have what it takes to win the league.
“I see the Celtic team every day, I see how we train, I see what we’ve overcome already this season in terms of a little bit of adversity, changing manager twice, fought back from where we were, were in a cup final, we’re in another cup final,” he said.
“So I see enough signs that the team want to win, they can do enough to win.
“It’s just about channeling that in the right way. We know that Hearts and Rangers are also good sides, we know that the top six are all good sides, so there’s points to play for.
“I think you have to win all your games if you want to win the league, so everybody’s thinking the same.”
The 32-year-old has won 24 major trophies with Celtic, one behind Lisbon Lion Bobby Lennox and two off his team-mate James Forrest, the club’s most decorated player, who has just signed a new one-year deal.
O’Neill could boldly bench Engels by unleashing Iheanacho 2.0 at Celtic
Celtic could bench Arne Engels by unleashing their new Kelechi Iheanacho against Falkirk.
McGregor is aiming to overtake Lennox by leading Celtic to the double this season, but they will have to start by beating a Falkirk side who will be looking to bounce back from penalty shoot-out heartbreak in their cup semi-final last week.
Celtic starlet set to return vs Falkirk
O’Neill will be boosted by the return of two players against the Bairns – defender Alistair Johnston and young forward Callum Osmand.
Osmand in particular is a big boost for the Hoops, having been out since October with a hamstring injury.
The 20 year-old has featured for just 14 minutes in the top flight, but shown flashes of huge potential when afforded opportunities, and his directness in behind could be a huge weapon for O’Neill in the run-in.
“Yeah, Callum and Alistair have been a long, long time out,” the boss said in his pre-match press conference.
“Callum is feeling much, much better with the week that he’s put in. Some days he hasn’t done anything, but he’s come through and he’s been fine.”
Osmand scored twice in three Challenge Cup games before his injury, and also bagged in his sole League Cup showing, having been an absolute goal machine in Fulham’s youth system before making the move to Glasgow.
Any manager would be thrilled to have more goalscoring threats during a title race, and it seems O’Neill is confident Osmand can play a part against Falkirk.
