Callum McGregor on Celtic seizing the momentum, guarding against complacency, and Kyogo Furuhashi’s fluency in the language of football

What’s more is that 25,000 punters were inside Celtic Park to witness it all, the occasion proving to be cathartic simply by its normalcy. Oh, and the small matter of Rangers losing three games in a week has hardly dampened enthusiasm in the green half of Glasgow for the season ahead.

If the theme of the week then from a supporter’s point of view has been one of exuberance, then inside the Celtic camp it has been one of temperance. The job of the Celtic captain Callum McGregor has been of course to try and seize the momentum that seems to suddenly be swinging their way, but with a Europa League second leg to negotiate against FK Jablonec tonight, to also keep feet firmly on the ground.

“It’s always important in football when you’re doing well that you need to work hard and try to add to that,” McGregor said.

“There’s a feelgood factor about the performances and goals, and most importantly at the weekend, we got a clean sheet and that’s something to build on in terms of giving everybody in the team confidence, moving forward.

“[Tonight] is another opportunity to put in a good performance and progress into the next round.

“The performance at the weekend was a big step forward for us in terms of keeping a clean sheet and there was a bit more structure with and without the ball. That builds confidence.

“If you get a good result and a big scoreline, everybody feels good about themselves.

“In football, it’s always important to keep that momentum going and still recognise where you are, in terms of building the squad, implementing the manager’s ideas and the players actually performing on the pitch.

“We know it was a good result but we’re not getting carried away. We know there’s a lot of work to be done but it’s always nice to have that feel good factor and confidence within the group.”

If Rangers losing to Malmo showed Celtic that their rivals may not presently be the proposition they were for the majority of last season, it also showed that nothing can be taken for granted at home in European competition, even with the 4-2 lead they enjoy from the first leg in the Czech Republic.

“Away teams can win games,” said McGregor. “We did it last week, going away from home and scoring four goals.

“We’ve put ourselves in a good position and we have to remain focused, turn up and earn the right to play again and finish the tie off.

“There’s no complacency within the building. We’ll continue to work hard, prepare properly for the game and then perform on the night.”

Perhaps the one facet of the thumping of Dundee that even McGregor has struggled to maintain a level of perspective on is that performance from Furuhashi, who has impressed just as much behind the scenes since his arrival at Celtic as he did when announcing himself on the big stage.

The Japanese striker has adapted to his new surroundings well, and his English is coming along as he looks to aid that assimilation into life in Scotland. From a football point of view though, McGregor knew instantly that they both shared an understanding of its universal language.

“He’s been absolutely first class,” he said.

“When you think about where he was in the world two weeks ago to where his now, it’s huge testament to him as a person, as a character, and his ability to come in and hit the ground running so quickly.

“Our job is to try to make him feel as welcome as possible. We’ve got a great bunch of boys in the changing room who are making him feel welcome every day.

“He’s got his interpreter with him as well in case the language barrier becomes a problem at any time, but he’s been great.

“What I will say is that his English is improving very, very quickly as well, so he’s obviously working really hard on that too, which is another testament to him as a person.

“Football has its own language, where people who have a football brain, you can see it very, very quickly.

“He’s certainly someone who has a football brain. He knows when to run, he knows when to come short and receive the ball, his touch, everything about him. You can just tell he’s got a football brain.

“When you’re on the pitch, it’s that sort of telepathic understanding that makes football.

“As much as there might be a language barrier or different cultures, we can try and help as much as we possibly can off the pitch, but it’s huge testament to him on the pitch how clever a footballer he is.

“He’s hit the ground running. He’s come in and sort of stole the show with his hat-trick at the weekend.

“He’s given us a real presence up front, he’s working hard, and all of that comes when he’s feeling comfortable and he’s feeling happy.

“Hopefully that continues.”