McGregor was laser-focused on putting things right when Celtic travel to Ibrox on Sunday
Simon Murray instantly clocked it in the media room when Callum McGregor revealed he got his Player of the Year vote.
But the laser-focused Hoops skipper wasn’t distracted for long as he vowed to ‘put things right’ against Rangers this weekend.
The Celtic midfield maestro was named alongside Murray and his Parkhead teammates Daizen Maeda and Nicolas Kuhn on the four-player shortlist for the top PFA gong.
Rules prohibit players from voting for their own teammates and that’s the only thing that stopped McGregor writing one of his own on the ballot.
Asked by Sky Sports who he voted for, McGregor said: “I voted for Simon Murray,” before the Dundee striker could be seen entering the room. “As he just walks in, good timing! He’s been outstanding.
“Obviously we can’t vote for ourselves. If we could, I’d have voted for one of our guys.
But Simon’s been amazing. He’s scored so many goals, he’s been a big player. And when he’s played against us, he’s given us a real difficult time. He got my vote.”
Celtic have recovered from a mini-blip that saw them lose at home to Rangers weeks before a shock defeat against St Johnstone – the latter prompting a raging rant from Brendan Rodgers who called his players out for being too ‘comfortable.’
They’ve scored 15 goals in the three games since, including five against Dundee United at the weekend to clinch the league title.
And after Rangers nicked a second successive victory over the Hoops last time out, Hamza Igamane’s late strike prompting wild scenes and the infamous Nicolas Raskin Watergate fallout near the away dugout, McGregor is determined to right that wrong at Ibrox this Sunday.
He said: “Since the manager had a pop at the players a couple of weeks ago, the response has been amazing. He sees these things coming, so he’s had a little poke and the players have reacted well.
“We’ve got four really important league games to go. We spoke about it going into the Dundee United game that every game’s important, we want to finish strong and get maximum wins. Sunday is the next game that’s available for that.
“When you lose any derby, you want to win the next one. That was the same going into the game at Celtic Park. It never quite worked out that way, a bit of circumstance at the end of the game and they carry a bit of luck.
“We have to try and put it right. It’s a difficult away game but we’ve got a bit of momentum, we’re in good form – we want to put it right and win this one.
