It is becoming something of a home from home.

Celtic return to Trondheim on Thursday evening for their penultimate Europa League game against Rosenborg with McGregor looking to draw on the recent fruitful experiences that Brendan Rodgers’ side have enjoyed against the Norwegians.

Last season it was the clean sheet in Trondheim which guaranteed Celtic’s passage into the play-off round and this summer there was another clean sheet in Norway as the Parkhead side progressed at Rosenborg’s expense.

The one cause for consternation so far as Celtic are concerned is the fact that they have yet to win an away game in the Europa League under any manager. The Parkhead side have been notoriously travel sick when it comes to performing away from their own turf but there are grounds for optimism that this week they can get that particular monkey off their back.

“I think we can draw on our previous games out in Norway,” said McGregor. “Under the manager we have managed to get

positive results out there so far and if we continue to play the way we have been playing there’s no reason we can’t go out and get another good result this time.

“They can no longer qualify so if you look at it that way they might not have much to play for, but we can’t think like that.

“We just have to go with a positive mindset and try to keep our hopes alive.

“It’s beginning to feel like a home game over there!

“It’s a place we know well and know what to expect. Sometimes you go to these big stadiums in Europe, you maybe don’t know what to expect and you are up against it.

“I think the results we have had over there it shows it’s a stadium where we feel comfortable and know we can perform in.

“We’ll be looking to play well there again.”

The Norwegian champions are currently pointless at the foot of Group B while Celtic and Leipzig fight it out for the second qualifying berth.

There is a moral question to be asked about two teams owned by the same global energy drinks company – Red Bull – competing in the same tournament but McGregor was philosophical about the inevitable questions their participation and meeting gives rise to.

The two will play in Austria while Celtic and Rosenborg are fighting it out, with McGregor maintaining that the Parkhead side cannot afford to peer too much over their shoulder.

“It’s a tricky one with the two Red Bull teams,” he acknowledged. “We can’t do anything about their game. It’s up to the players at those clubs.

“All we can do is try to keep it in our own hands. It will be interesting to see what happens, but if we take six points out of six we could be through anyway. That’s got to be the focus for us going to Rosenborg.”

However both games pan out this week, the expectation is that it will come down to the final game of the group. Celtic will host current group leaders Salzburg next month with McGregor having anticipated that the three home games in the competition were always going to hold the key to Celtic’s progression.

“We always said it would be vitally important to win our home games,” said the midfielder. “We knew we had difficult away ties in Austria and Germany and that turned out to be the case.

“But we are probably where I expected us to be at the moment in terms of the group. If we can go to Rosenborg and get a positive result we will be right in the mix.

“The Leipzig game was right up there with the best European nights in terms of the result and the performance.

“It was massive for us. We’ve played well in certain games but it was nice to also get the result.

“We wanted to show we could compete with the best.

“You’ve got to ride your luck at times against this sides and we did that but it was a really positive night for us. We played some decent stuff and managed to dig in when we had to.”

Having come through the ranks at Celtic, there is a greater appreciation of the European experience for McGregor and his fellow academy graduates. McGregor, Kieran Tierney and James Forrest have all deputised under the floodlights on ball-boy duties in their formative year, something that the midfielder believes adds another layer to the sense of responsibility as a player.

“It’s huge for the guys like myself, KT and James, who have come through the ranks,” said McGregor.

“We’ve watched the big European nights at Celtic Park so to go and give the fans another one like last time out was great to be part of. As a boy coming through it’s all you can ask for really. It’s some feeling sending the supporters home happy.”