Callum McGregor says Celtic’s blip against Motherwell is the kick up the backside they needed before their Scottish Cup semi-final clash with Rangers.
The Hoops skipper insists they will repay their fans at Hampden with an Old Firm performance after their Premiership slip-up McGregor & Co could only manage a 1-1 draw with the Steelmen. It’s the first time they’ve dropped points at home this season. But the captain is convinced that it will humble boss Ange Postecoglou ’s side and give them a jolt ahead of their Cup showdown.
He said: “Football can bring you back down to earth when you think you are doing well. That’s what it does. If you drop your standards, that’s what can happen. Hopefully come the end of next week, that’s what this will have been – just a blip. It’s one of those days when, if you ever think you are getting too far ahead of yourself, it refocuses the group.
“That’s what we need to do and it’s down to us. It was disappointing because the fans were excellent and stayed with us. We need to repay that next weekend.
“It’s a disappointment when we drop points at home as we want to be really dominant. We will look at the game and find the reasons why we didn’t quite get the job done. Then we will hammer home the principles that have got us where we are.”
McGregor opened the scoring for Celtic against Well but they were pegged back thanks to Kevin van Veen’s second-half equaliser. They’re still 13 points ahead at the top of the league and on course for a domestic Treble.
But McGregor says it’s imperative they recover quickly. He said: “We won’t make excuses. We came away from our structure a little bit and the review of the game will show that.
“It was just an off day in terms of our quality, This is probably one of the only times when we haven’t managed to find a solution in the game.
"We have come through a lot of these matches where we have got a last-minute goal or done enough to win, We didn’t do that and the disappointing thing was the way we lost the goal. We have big games to go and we need to apply those lessons into them. The next game is the biggest one now and we will approach that with full focus.”
Celtic were without the likes of Jota, Reo Hatate and Liel Abada against Motherwell and there’s no guarantee they’ll be fit for Hampden. McGregor admits they could do with them returning from injury before next Sunday.
He said: “Not having top-class players can hinder you and we do miss guys like Jota and Reo at the top of the pitch. But the squad is strong and we have always found a solution. It’s important we learn from today and move forward again.”
McGregor wasn’t surprised to hear boss Postecoglou’s name linked with the vacant manager’s job at Chelsea. But he says it’s vital the Aussie gaffer stays to finish what he’s started.
Reports in England suggested Postecoglou was on the Stamford Bridge club’s hitlist to replace axed Graham Potter. Ex-Spurs and PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino is favourite for the job though and McGregor admits he’s desperate for Postecoglou to remain in Glasgow.
He said: “He’s been fantastic here, he’s had a really good tenure and we want to keep him. His work is outstanding and he’s a good person as well. That’s the type of people you want to work with and we would be delighted to keep him.
“His work speaks for itself. That’s going to get people talking but I think his full focus is on the job at hand. If we can keep him we will be delighted.”
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