CALLUM McGregor loves it when a plan comes together – and Scotland becoming The A Team after years of hard work will be particularly satisfying for the midfield general.
McGregor has been integral to the progress which in the national side have made since Steve Clarke took over as manager three years ago.
There have been setbacks and disappointments aplenty – the Qatar 2022 play-off semi-final defeat to Ukraine back in June being chief among them - in amongst all of the successes.
But when the Celtic skipper takes to the field here in Poland tomorrow night he will be eager to help the country reach what will be a significant milestone in their journey.
A draw or a defeat in Krakow will ensure Scotland top Group B1 and, as well as clinching a Euro 2024 play-off spot, join international behemoths like Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain in the A League.
McGregor has savoured being back in the Champions League group stages with his club this season and has relished every minute of the matches the Scottish champions have played so far against Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk.
The 48-times capped 29-year-old would enjoy squaring up to the best teams in the world at international level and revealed that was the objective when the competition started up back in 2018 and Alex McLeish was in charge.
“That’s where we want to be,” he said when asked about the prospect of Scotland joining the A League. “That was the target and goal for us when the Nations League started and we were in Pot C.
“We wanted to get up the pots and play against better teams and that would ultimately develop the team and make players better.
“That’s where we want to be and we understand the repercussions of the group and this game on Tuesday night. It’s a big game for us and we have to go and do everything we can to perform.
“Whatever happens will be a consequence of what happens on Tuesday night. We just have to recover well over the next few days and prepare for the game and try and get a positive result on Tuesday and we can look forward to the consequences.”
Scotland showed how just how much they have developed as a team under McLeish and Clarke at at Hampden on Saturday when they came from behind to defeat the Republic of Ireland 2-1 – a result which saw them return to top spot in Group B1.
McGregor - who should renew his central midfield partnership with Billy Gilmour tomorrow after Scott McTominay, who started both games alongside him last week, picked up a second booking and suspension against Ireland – felt the gutsy display showed how far the national team have progressed.
He feels the mature showing augurs well for their rematch with Ukraine, who hammered Armenia 5-0 in Yerevan at the weekend, in the Marszalek Pilsudski Stadium. He is also hopeful that, having faced Shakhtar in Warsaw last week, the support for the “home” team will not be especially intimidating.
“We spoke about things at half-time as we never quite got going in the first half,” he said. “But we knew if we stuck to the principles of the game and what we tried to do in the match, we knew not to come away from our plan because it was 1-0.
“We knew if we kept doing what we were told to do that would get us back into the game and that's what happened. That comes with experience and being in these types of situations before.
“When you are losing you are desperate to get back into the game and you maybe start doing stuff that isn’t in the plan. But you have a plan for a reason and if you stay calm and you see the picture clearly you know where you can hurt them.
“It’s about using that experience and staying calm in the situation and then trying to execute the plan. We believe in what the manager is telling us and the messages he gives to us and the coaching staff.
“You have to trust yourself to get back into the game by doing the right things and not becoming emotional as it is 1-0 at half-time. You might try something different but we knew if we stuck to the principles we would get back into it.”
McGregor added: “There’s always an element when you go away from home that the game will be different. But we just have to stay calm, find our way in the game early, and if they try something different we have to try and figure that out early doors.
“We will need to get to grips with the game because it will be a different game to the one here last week. We just need to get to grips with it and find a solution.
“I’m not sure what the support for them will be like. Just going from our experience last week in Poland then maybe (it will not be large). But we have to expect that the crowd will be behind them and they will be feeling good about themselves because they are at home. We have to try and take that element of surprise out of our game and focus on executing our game plan.”
The game in Krakow will be the 12th that McGregor has been involved in with club and country since the 2022/23 campaign got underway at the end of July; but there is no danger of one of the most played footballers in the world game feeling fatigued.
“I play 70 matches a season,” he said with a smile. “I would only be disappointed if I didn’t have three matches in a week. That would be a shock to the system.”
