Callum McGregor – “A few days off for him, I think he’ll be ready,” Martin O’Neill | OneFootball

Despite injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s game against St Mirren, Celtic captain Callum McGregor was included in the starting XI and was substituted after 73 minutes…

Callum McGregor of Celtic warms up ahead of kick off during the Scottish Premiership between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on April 11, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

Martin O’Neill’s side secured a narrow but important 1-0 victory over the Buddies, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scoring the only goal of the game in the first half.

Post-match, O’Neill revealed that McGregor had been dealing with an injury, but was keen to play and insisted on starting despite the issue.

O’Neill said via Glasgow Times: “Callum McGregor, he had a bit of a problem during the week but wanted to play. I’m delighted that he did and really didn’t feel any worse than before. I’m absolutely delighted that he got through as much as he did, so we need him.”

Celtic are set to meet St Mirren again in next Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final, with O’Neill expressing optimism that McGregor will be available for the showdown at Hampden.

“I think now a few days off for him, I think he’ll be ready,” O’Neill said. “I think psychologically, playing the game today was big news for him. Not that we were saving anybody for a semi-final, not at all. That’s there, that’s in the next eight days or something.”

“We weren’t saving anybody. He wanted to play, he wanted to start the game and he felt okay to start it. So that’s good and I don’t think he’s done any harm.”

Celtic Manager Martin O’Neill reacts during the Scottish Premiership between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on April 11, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

Giving his view on the team’s performance, O’Neill added: “I thought we didn’t play very well. I just thought that energy levels looked low, which I think is, if it had been the last, let’s say, ten minutes of the game, you’re holding on to something, I can understand that, but it set in pretty early in the second half, which was a bit of a concern.”

“But we’ll try and rectify that if we can for next week. We need to. But just winning the game was really important, but we didn’t play well.”

Conor Spence

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