'No excuses' - Matt O'Riley in Celtic rallying cry

Callum (McGregor) has been back in for a couple of games now what sort of impact do you think he has made back in the side?

His (McGregor) importance speaks for itself both on and off the pitch. We know what he brings in terms of his leadership whether that be on the ball or vocally. Yes, we are all happy to have him back.

What is he (McGregor) like to play alongside because is a huge influence on this team?

He (McGregor) is a very good player first and foremost. I think he is under-appreciated a little bit. If you really understand football you understand how good he is in terms of all the details. What he brings on the pitch in terms of adding a layer of calmness on the ball and vocally, especially, he is very good at organising everybody.

Livingston manager David Martindale rated him a top four to top six English Premier League player do you agree with that?

I agree. In another world, he probably would be playing in the English Premier League if he took an opportunity in the past. You know how much he loves this football club and I don't think he would ever leave it. I agree I think he is a top player. He could easily play in the top four or six in England.

Does it feel different for you to play further forward having had a couple of months in the McGregor role?

I know the position well but it does take one or two games to remember where I need to be exactly. I do think I know the position well enough to know what I need to do because I have played it a lot in the past and I feel pretty comfortable.

St Johnstone are one of the teams that have really challenged Celtic and brought their A-game what was it about them in the last game that made that possible?

They were hard to beat. Like most teams in this league, they set up in a certain way to stop us rather than win the game in my opinion a lot of the time. It makes it difficult as we know they are going to have a lot of men behind the ball. Our ball speed and our circulation is going to have to be high as usual and that should help us a lot.

Is it frustrating for Celtic to play against teams who have that mentality?

I don't think so. We come up against it so much now that we know what we need to do. You saw last week against Aberdeen how extreme it was in terms of nine men pretty much sitting in their box. I don't think it will be that extreme against St Johnstone but we won that game against Aberdeen and we proved we can break those teams down. It might sometimes take a while but if we commit to our football then it should end up working.

The manager was frustrated in the Livingston game as he said players weren't in the positions when balls were flashing across the box is it good to get a reminder sometimes about things like that?

It's those good habits, I think. Everyone knows where they need to be. The structure is very clear we have worked on it a lot. We do it every day in training and there is no real excuse for being in the wrong position and that goes for all of us. There were probably a few too many that got flashed across the box and I am sure next game we will come back with that in our minds and make sure that doesn't happen again.

Is that one of the things that don't click instantly when you have had a six-week break?

Maybe, I don't know. I am not sure. I do think we know what we need to do well enough for that not to be an excuse really. We've played this type of football a long time and everyone knows their jobs and their roles and I don't think that should be happening much.