Callum McGregor believes Celtic's friendly match against Leicester City on Saturday will provide them with ideal preparation ahead of next week's trip to Kazakhstan.

The Premier League champions are in Glasgow to face Brendan Rodgers' side in the International Champions Cup just days before the Champions League qualifier against Astana.

The winger believes a match against a team of Leicester's quality will only help Celtic get up to speed ahead of the match in Kazakhstan.

"You want to keep testing yourself as a player and the more quality opposition that we play against, then the better it will be for us at the stage we are at," he said.

"You want to improve as a player all the time so to play against the best players is the way to do that."

McGregor is not underestimating the task that Astana will present his team, highlighting their quality in reaching the Champions League group stage last year.

The 23-year-old said: "I know they got to the Champions League last year and by all accounts they did well. We know they are going to be a tough opponent.

"Teams in that sort of area are getting better and obviously they proved that last year by getting to the Champions League.

"Obviously it's far to travel and it's a plastic pitch, so we just need to make sure we are ready for that test. We are travelling a couple of days early so we can get there and get a feel for the place.

"You need to try to be ready for everything that comes your way, on the preparation side and the training pitch. Everything needs to be spot-on. There is not much room for error in these qualifiers so we need to do everything we can to be ready for them."