CALLUM MCGREGOR has accepted an apology from Kris Boyd over comments made last week about his facial injury, but has called upon pundits to moderate their language so that players aren’t endangered in the future.
Former Rangers striker Boyd, writing in his newspaper column following Celtic’s win over Rangers last Wednesday, said: “Look at Celtic. Callum McGregor played with a fractured cheekbone.
“The fact he managed to get through the 90 minutes without anyone testing out that face mask is another story, but his commitment to the team was tremendous.”
Those comments drew an angry response from Celtic, and McGregor has revealed that Boyd subsequently called him to apologise and clarify his remarks.
“I think first and foremost the players need to be safe,” McGregor said.
“It’s always an emotional game, both sets of supporters are super passionate about it and you obviously then get a cloud of expectation and emotion and everything else.
“I think we can’t forget the fact though that the players need to feel safe on the pitch.
“It’s a football match. We do our best to win it and when we do, everybody is in great spirits.
“That’s all we try to do, look after ourselves and win the football match and move on to the next one.
“It was disappointing when I got sent it, you can’t hide that fact.
“I think he realises now it was a poor choice of words and he’s sort of rectified the situation and tried to clarify it a little bit.
“So, that’s fine, we move on from that and we just focus on the football.
“Of course though it was disappointing at the time, but we’ve had a chat and we just move on from it now.
“He just touched base, we had a chat and everything is good now. We just move on and focus on the football now.”