With the first international break of the season over, this weekend sees the return of Premiership action, as the champions prepare for their match against Hearts at Celtic Park tomorrow (Saturday). The Hoops got off to a flawless start to the season with five wins from five matches which saw the Bhoys book their place in the League Cup quarter-final, seal a stunning 3-0 Glasgow derby win and secure top spot in the SPFL table going in to the break. For captain Callum McGregor, who has scored three brilliant goals since the beginning of the campaign, there is yet another reason to be satisfied with how the season has started, as today (Friday), he was named as the SPFL player of the month for August. Incredibly, despite his brilliant Celtic career so far, this is the first time that the Hoops’ skipper has won the monthly award in Scotland and speaking to the media ahead of Saturday’s match, McGregor thanked his team-mates for their help in winning the award. “There’s a first for everything,” he said. “We’re off to a great start and with all of these things, you never get there without your team-mates. “So thank you to them as well because they’ve been so good. “When you get some goals, and the type of goals that I’ve scored, it’s nice and it will always attract more attention. ‘It’s all about the team, how we function as a team and how we look as a unit.’ “I’m really happy and pleased with how we started the season, but we know we’re only a month in and we need to continue to keep pushing.”Over the summer, Brendan Rodgers introduced a host of new recruits to the first-team squad, with three of those signings arriving on deadline day. Two of the new bhoys, Luke McCowan and Arne Engels, made their Celtic debuts in the Glasgow derby and new keeper, Kasper Schmeichel has kept four clean sheets from four league games so far. Speaking about the new recruits at today’s press conference, Callum McGregor admitted that he has been impressed by how they are all settling in so far. “The guys have been first class since they came in,” he said. “It’s nice to see them up close and get to know how they train and the way they behave. “They all have brilliant attitudes and there’s a huge amount of quality on the training pitch. “It’s still early doors for them, so we just continue to try and help them in any way we can. “When they go on the pitch, I’m sure they’ll give everything for the team, they’ll start to settle in and you’ll see what they’re all about at that point.” In contrast to the Celts’ start to the season, Steven Naismith’s Hearts side are yet to win a game domestically and currently sit second bottom of the Scottish Premiership table. Despite their poor start to the campaign, the Hoops’ captain says that his team are fully focused and aware of the dangers that the Edinburgh side can pose. Looking ahead to Saturday’s match, McGregor said: “There’s no getting away from the start they’ve had, it’s not been ideal in terms of what they would have wanted, but for us, we take these games in isolation. “Everyone raises their game to play against us, so our idea is to go and dominate the game and be as aggressive as we can. “We know what they can do and what they can do at Celtic Park, so tomorrow we’ll give everything to the game to make sure we get a positive outcome.” THE CAPTAIN’S FULL PRESS CONFERENCE Being named SPFL Player of the Month The Celts’ start to the season The international break New recruits settling in Saturday’s match against Hearts MATCH CENTRE Get live Celtic v Hearts updates from our official Match Centre – Visit the Match Centre FixturesCeltic Vs. Heart of Midlothian – Sat, Sep 14th 2024, 15:00
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