Callum McGregor reckons holding fire with the Old Firm showdown until the fans can get back in would be well worth the wait.
The Celtic ace has backed his boss Neil Lennon’s call to schedule the Glasgow Derby for after the supporters ban is lifted as Scottish football’s showpiece clash would be diminished behind closed doors.
Celts would be expected to head to Celtic Park for the first meeting of the new season – but it’s likely to be fan free as the country looks to get to grips with the coronavirus.
But McGregor is convinced the encounter is big box office because of the atmosphere and would rather the game was delayed until the punters get the green light.
The midfield schemer said: “In Scotland, the Celtic – Rangers fixtures are the go to games. It’s what promotes the product.
“In England, people want to tune in and watch these games.
“It would be fantastic to get a full stadium for them or as close to that as possible.
“It would certainly make sense if they could put them back so we could have the best chance of getting a full stadium. It’s something you would welcome.
“It would be worth the wait. It’s the atmosphere that makes them special.
“When you play in them, the stadiums are rocking. That’s what you want to play in – the high pressure games.
“If it meant there were a few games in the space of a few weeks then it would be great spectacle for people watching them as well.
“It could make sense if that’s the route that they go down.”
McGregor has been tuning in to the games in Germany and he’s gearing up to watch the English Premier League return on Wednesday.
Several Bundesliga clubs have been piping in crowd noise in to the empty stadia to generate some atmosphere and EPL outfits could follow their lead.
McGregor reckons the Scottish game could crank up the PA systems in the short term but nothing beats the real thing.
The Hoops ace said: “I’ve been watching every game I can as obviously there was nothing for a while.
“You can see the progression from the first game until now.
“They are starting to introduce crowd noise. The Premier League will probably kick off with that in place as well.
“It’s probably a psychological factor for people watching games.
“When you hear that noise, it makes you feel like you are watching a proper game.
“For us as footballers, we just want to be back on the pitch and playing in any capacity.
“Hopefully it won’t be too long that we are playing closed doors games. We certainly want the fans back in.
“We know how important a season this is for the club. If we can get the fans in as soon as possible when it’s safe, that will give us a boost as well.
“To get football back in any capacity just now would be the first step and we’d be delighted with that.”
McGregor is hoping the SPFL can hit their target of kicking off the new campaign on August 1.
He said: “It’s good to have that on the horizon. Previously, you were tuning into Sky Sports News hearing different training dates and things like that.
“For a while, it seemed very distant. But now we have a provisional date of August 1 so hopefully things keep progressing in the right way.
“It’s good to have that target to work towards. Scottish football getting back on that date would be great.”
