FOR someone who played more minutes than anyone else in world football in the 2018/19 season, and who played 50 games in this nine-in-a-row season, including all 30 Premiership matches, the enforced period of inaction during the lockdown has been a frustrating one for Callum McGregor.

But the midfielder is delighted with the resumption of training, albeit the players are working on an individual basis at Lennoxtown at the moment.

“It’s good to get back on the grass and see the white lines and get back on the football pitch, so that’s been great the past couple of days,” McGregor told Celtic TV. “It just seems to lift your mood straight away when you’re getting up to go to training. So it’s definitely been well-received.

“You’re just so used to being in that routine where you’ve got games every three or four days for a large period of the season, and then when you get to April to the end of May, it goes to one game a week and you feel at that point that you’re getting a rest.

"But to have 10 or 11 weeks off, it’s not been great. It’s nice to have the down-time but, ultimately, you want to be on the pitch playing football and doing what you love.

“Everyone’s delighted to be back in. It’s small steps at the minute, but it’s just good to be back on the grass. It’s going to be an extended pre-season so you’ve got even more time to plan and get your body right, and then when the games come around, we’ll have had a good 10 or 11 weeks pre-season under our belts.

“Everyone will be in good condition and desperate for the games to start. We want to continue the hunger and the more that you win, it just fuels you for more success and you want to keep delivering trophies.

"It’s another big season for the club but the message will stay the same – the next game is the most important, the next training day is an opportunity to get better and improve as a player and as a squad together. So that message will stay very much the same.”

And while pre-season is still in its infancy for the Celtic squad, McGregor and his team-mates are already looking forward to the challenges ahead, with the team aiming to progress in Europe and maintain the incredible form in Scotland which has seen the club win nine league titles in a row and the last 11 domestic trophies up for grabs.

“Once you start to get dates for the season and Champions League qualifiers, that’s when it’ll start to heat up in terms of getting a little bit closer,” he said. “We’re obviously buzzing to get back in and back on the grass, and hopefully in the next few weeks and months, we’ll see that progressing.

“We’re in that mindset of working where the next game is always the most important and you have to prepare properly, regardless of the opponent, regardless of the competition. If you prepare properly, turn up on the day and put in a good performance, then, nine times out of ten, you’ll win the game, and that’s been our motto right the way through these last few years.”

Callum McGregor: It's good to be back at Lennoxtown