“Six weeks might turn into two,” Greg Taylor on Calmac’s injury setback

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The Celtic Star

·12 March 2026

“Six weeks might turn into two,” Greg Taylor on Calmac’s injury setback

Former Celtic defender Greg Taylor believes Callum McGregor will not be sidelined for long, despite growing concern over the captain’s recent injury setback…

The midfielder was forced to watch from the stands last weekend as Celtic edged past the Ibrox club in a dramatic Scottish Cup tie decided by penalties.

Prior to the match, Martin O’Neill explained that the 32-year-old had been dealing with a persistent problem carried over from last season, which flared up again during the recent encounter with Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

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O’Neill confirmed McGregor had failed to recover in time for the derby and refused to speculate on how long he could be out of action.

Callum McGregor celebrates. Aberdeen v Celtic, Scottish Premiership. Wednesday 4th March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

His absence has raised worries about the skipper’s availability during the crucial closing stretch of the title race, with Celtic attempting to reduce the gap to leaders Hearts.

Former Hoops defender Charlie Mulgrew suggested the issue relates to McGregor’s Achilles and questioned how the club have handled the midfielder’s workload in recent years. McGregor has featured in at least 40 matches in each of the last nine seasons.

This campaign alone he started in both the Scottish Cup fourth round against West of Scotland Premier Division side Auchinleck Talbot and a Europa League dead rubber with Stuttgart, even as O’Neill rotated heavily elsewhere in the squad.

Taylor – who departed Celtic for PAOK last summer – is confident his former teammate will bounce back quickly and return to action sooner than many expect.

Speaking via Premier Sports’ Scottish Football Social Club, Taylor said: “if it’s six weeks it might turn into two. It’s always hard to get the balance right. As a player there’s nothing better than being in a rhythm of play, recover, play, recover.”

“But sometimes you can tip over into injury. Callum is too important a player for Celtic to lose. Maybe there have been a couple of games where he could have had a breather, but he’s difficult to leave out because he wants to play every game.”

Callum McGregor ahead of the match. Scottish Cup quarter final on Sunday 8 March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

Taylor added: “He’s played almost every game for years and he’s vital to the team. Hopefully it’s not long. One thing with Callum is that he has a really high pain threshold.”

“If it’s meant to be six weeks it might turn into two. Hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later.”

Kieran Tierney and Callum McGregor at Ibrox. Scottish Cup quarter final on Sunday 8 March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

O’Neill confirmed that Kieran Tierney will return for Celtic’s huge Premiership clash with Motherwell this weekend, but McGregor remains a huge doubt.

Conor Spence