Callum McGregor said Celtic’s win against Lille in the Europa League will give the squad a spring in their step again coming into Sunday’s league game against Kilmarnock, and added that competition for a place in the starting XI has intensified following the impressive performance.

Celtic closed off their European campaign for the season with an excellent display against Lille to win 3-2 at Celtic Park.

Neil Lennon made numerous changes to the starting XI for the final game in the group, and with Scott Brown one of the regular players being rested, McGregor captained the team.

Christopher Jullien’s goal midway through the first half was cancelled out minutes later by the visitors. However, McGregor restored Celtic’s lead from the penalty spot. Lille equalised again with 20 minutes to spare but Celtic showed their character to again reclaim their lead when David Turnbull scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 75th minute.

McGregor was full of praise for the team’s performance and highlighted the importance of the result ahead of Sunday’s league game against Kilmarnock at Paradise.

“It’s nice to have that more familiar feeling back,” said McGregor. “There have been very small margins in the games, and when you’re in a rut like that, confidence is low. It’s nice to get the win. It changes everyone’s mentality, the feel-good factor and everyone comes in over the next couple of days with a spring in the step and looking forward to the game on Sunday.

“It’s only human nature that, when you lose a game, you feel a bit of pressure. Naturally, people feel down about themselves and the confidence isn’t quite the same.

'Football’s a confidence game. Players thrive on having confidence and winning games, so it’s important we build on this now. We have a good feeling about us, the players worked hard for the win and we got what we deserved. The main thing is, we stay humble and go again.'

McGregor was confident of a similar outcome against Kilmarnock at the weekend and said the likes of Turnbull and Ismaila Soro have made a claim for a place in the starting XI after their excellent performances.

“We have to take this feeling into Sunday now, that’s the most important game and we have to go and win that," he said.

“The guys who came in were asked to play at a very high level and they did exactly that. They’ve staked a claim for the weekend and that’s exactly what we need, we need everybody at the top of their game and super motivated to go on a run now. With the number of good players we have playing at a high level, that’s going to benefit us as well.

“This is a big week and first and foremost, Sunday is the most important game. Our full focus is on Sunday now.”

Callum McGregor: Euro win has given us a spring in our step