Scott Brown has hailed Callum McGregor and insisted the Celtic captain's influence on the club is setting impressive standards.

McGregor took over from Brown as skipper when he called time on an illustrious career at Parkhead as he decided to enter the world of management with Fleetwood Town.

Brown has watched on from afar, but he has been hugely impressed with the impact that McGregor has made as captain, although it was not a surprise for him.

The Parkhead legend told the Daily Record: “Trust me, you can’t underestimate the influence Callum has inside that dressing room in terms of setting standards for the rest of the group.

“He certainly won’t allow complacency to set in and that’s one reason why Ange will be delighted to have him back at this critical stage in the season.

"You need to make sure you maintain those standards and focus on the next game. It can be a mistake to look too far ahead of yourselves.

"But they’ve got two cups there to be won and they’ll want to make sure they challenge for them. Most importantly, they’ll want to win the league and they’re obviously in a great position to do that at this point.

“But they have to push on in the second half of the campaign and having a guy like Callum back in there to drive things from the inside will be a massive help in achieving all of that.”

Looking ahead to the remainder of the season, Brown added: “They’re in great shape for the second half of the season. They’ve had a winter break and they’ll enjoy a training camp in some warm weather I’d imagine.

“From there I’m quite sure they’ll be ready to kick on again. You can see that they are a good team with a good understanding of each other. They’ve got great energy but that should be a given, especially at Celtic.

“But for them to be scoring the amount of goals they’re scoring and playing such entertaining football shows what they are all about. Having Callum back out there on the pitch will only make them stronger and keep those standards high.”

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