Celtic's Callum McGregor is determined to seize his chance under new manager Ronny Deila following his loan spell at Notts County last season. The midfielder, who scored 14 goals for the League One club, came off the bench and scored in Celtic's 3-1 friendly winover Krasnodar in Austria on Thursday. McGregor is well aware that Deila made his name developing young talent at Stromsgodset in Norway and has vowed to repeat the process when he took over at Parkhead this summer. McGregor said: "It's what you want to hear when you come back, especially after a loan spell when you think you have been cast out in the cold a wee bit. I did well last season and the gaffer who has come in is really looking for young players to take the challenge and go and get in the team. After my performance and goal last night, I will continue trying to do that and I will keep working hard to impress in training."
McGregor converted a low Adam Matthews cross with a first-time finish soon after coming on at half-time during Celtic's opening pre-season friendly. Speaking on Friday, he said: "The manager just told me to go and express myself, to have fun and work hard and try and take what we have been learning on the training pitch into the game. Going on loan last year has helped me massively in understanding the game and where to be in possession and without possession, and I do think I have benefited from that. I got the goal last night and I'm delighted. I just saw Adam going down the right-hand side and thought I would get myself in the box as anything can happen. He played a great cross and I managed to score, which was decent. A lot of my goals last season were the same, coming into the box late and picking up second balls. I like playing in that position, on the left but coming in and playing a bit narrower, trying to get on the ball and trying to get on the end of things in the box as well."