The Celtic Fan’s Best News Of This Week Came Today, In Rodgers Excellent Presser.

If you missed Rodgers press conference today you missed a treat. He refused to apologise or express regret for criticising officials. He pointed the finger of blame for the ticket fiasco squarely at the club across the city. He reiterated Celtic’s stance on the matter and he dismissed questions about the game next week with mock irritation. It was masterful.

Amidst it all was the team news, and that, folks, was nothing but good.

Hatate, back in training and fit and raring to go. Carter Vickers, back fully fit and up for the fight. We even heard that Palma will be back in training shortly, so that injury is not as bad as was evidently feared. But the real news, the news we all wanted, was about Callum McGregor. “Back out on the pitch,” the boss says, but not being risked at Livingston.

Will he be ready for Ibrox? Rodgers says he might very well be. I think he’ll be there. There is no more important player to the team, and if Rodgers is talking about risk mitigation, then he’s also decided that he’s being saved for the game next weekend.

He’s going to be ready. Hatate will be ready. Carter Vickers will be ready. Rodgers will be in the dugout. Kyogo is back on form and scoring goals.

We’ll be rolling into Ibrox in good shape if we can get tomorrow’s job done.

This is a far cry from where we thought – feared – we might be some weeks back when we didn’t know if any of our injured stars would place.

Hatate is going to elevate the whole team. At his best he can turn games single-handed. But it’s McGregor, of course, who is the really important one.

We can’t know how much we’ve missed Hatate in the team, although I expect a marked improvement with his return, because he’s been out such a long time and we’ve been muddling by … we can definitely measure how much we’ve missed McGregor. That was a terrible blow at the worst possible time.

Of all the players in the squad I didn’t even want to contemplate a match at Ibrox without … he was by far the biggest possible loss. If he’s back that’s everything. If he’s fit that’s incredible. The lift the dressing room will take from his presence. Amazing.

The lift it gives the fans … yeah, I feel up for it now more than ever.

Bring on the next two games.