Celtic have faced criticism from fans and politicians over their trip
Callum McGregor has defended Celtic’s decision to travel to Dubai following their defeat against Rangers.
It was McGregor’s second-half own goal that separated the sides at Ibrox on Saturday, with the stand-in captain inadvertently diverting a corner into his own net.
That 1-0 loss left Neil Lennon’s men 19 points behind their rivals at the top of the Premiership, with many convinced that Celtic’s dream of winning a historic tenth successive league title is over.
All of which made the decision to immediately head for Dubai a controversial one, and that’s before you take the pandemic into account.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Deputy First Minister John Swinney have both expressed concern, while supporters have spent the last few days criticising their club.
McGregor, who has scored three times in 19 appearances so far this season, has now issued a defence of the UAE trip.
As quoted in Record Sport, the midfielder said: “The camp lets us come away into the warm climate and have intense training, and that’s the main benefit of the fitness work – it’s something you can’t replicate at home in the cold weather.
“The added benefit of the heat improves your fitness when you’re working at that intensity, it gives you a different level of fitness when you go back, and it’s pretty much impossible to recreate that back in the colder climate.
“The objective of the camp is to work as hard as we possibly can and take that into the next stretch of the season. It’s slightly different circumstances this time, but the trip and its purpose is exactly the same, we come here, we train exceptionally hard, we hit the reset button and then we go again.
“The trip has been the same for the last few years, as have the benefits of that in terms of fitness work, keeping everyone at their sharpest and getting the boys who’ve maybe not played as much football up to speed.”
Celtic return to domestic action on Monday night when they play host to Hibs.
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