Gary Mackay-Steven is eager to make an impression on Celtic's first team after getting a surprise call on Saturday.

The winger was drafted in off the bench after just 9 minutes when James Forrest had to go off with a knee injury and the player is desperate to take any chance he can.

Forrest's injury is not as serious as was originally feared and while Mackay-Steven was keen to applaud the contribution of the Scotland internationalist, he is nevertheless keen to show what he can offer in his colleague's absence.

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"I have been working hard at training and in the gym and you just want that wee chance to play," he said.

"It is never nice, though, when it comes about because of an injury.

"No-one wants to see that.

"James has been excellent for us all season. He has really shown so much and I would be the first person to hope that he can get to full fitness as quickly as possible.

"But if it means that there might be a chance to play then you just have to focus and do what you can to take it.

"I enjoyed the game against Hamilton Accies at the weekend and hopefully I can get some more game time under my belt over the next few weeks."

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Celtic are off to Inverness this evening to revisit the scene of the only ground where they have lost league points this season.

Inverness held Celtic to a 2-2 draw back in September but in fairness Celtic have beaten them twice in Glasgow since then.

And Mackay-Steven believes that the Parkhead side are no more motivated tonight to win the game than they would be under different circumstances.

"The thing that you have to appreciate is that it is a team that wants to win no matter what is going on," he said. "It wouldn't have mattered if we had beaten Inverness 5-0 up there that day - we would still be going up tonight wanting to win the game."

Celtic go into the game on the back of a sequence of results that currently stretches to 21 consecutive league games. Winning this evening would take Celtic to within games of levelling the current record which stands at 25, while the possibility of going through the season unbeaten remains an issue too.

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For Mackay-Steven, though, it is a more prosaic approach that the Celtic dressing room take to every game.

"I think we are driven to just be the best that we possibly can be," he said. "I think it is one of those things that when you have stopped playing you will look back on and see how special it was but when you are in the middle of it you just want to keep it going.

"The manager wants us to be relentless, to strive to be the very best that we can be as a team and as players and that is what everyone is trying to achieve."