Callum McGregor shrugged off Fashion Sakala’s Viaplay Cup Final jibe and insisted the humble Hoops do their talking on the pitch. The Parkhead captain refused to rise to the bait after the Gers ace branded Celts ‘the other mob’ and claimed the Ibrox side was superior.
McGregor’s sights are set on lifting the League Cup at Hampden on Sunday and he is determined to ignore the noise. He said: “I don’t pay much attention to it, to be honest. For us, we don’t want to comment on any other club or any other players. We are just thinking solely about the game, how we can prepare and how we can approach the game in the best manner possible. Hopefully on Sunday, if we can do enough right, then we will have the trophy at the end.”
McGregor wants his men to do their talking where it matters. He said: “Absolutely. I don’t like to talk about other clubs and other players.
“I have enough to worry about with myself, my club and the team. It’s very much the same message for us – we pride ourselves on being humble. When we win, we are humble. When we lose, we are humble.
“I believe that’s the right way to go. We are excited for the game and preparing as best as we can. When Sunday comes and we go over that white line, hopefully we can be successful.”
McGregor admitted Celtic are on a revenge mission after crashing out of last season’s Scottish Cup to Rangers in last season’s Hampden semi-final stage. He said: “When you lose a big game like that, it hurts you.
“And it stays with you probably for the rest of your career, the rest of your life, but it’s important that when you get the chance to try to rectify that then of course you give absolutely everything to put that right. Probably most importantly, to put it right for the supporters.
“So, of course, we have that added motivation that they got one over on us the last time at Hampden. We’ll try to fix that but the only way to fix that is to stay calm and stay focussed on what we’ve been doing - approach the game in the right way and then on Sunday, we have to turn up and do all the right things to win the game.”
McGregor is out to land his 18th major trophy at Celtic and he admitted the Viaplay Cup can be a springboard to success for the rest of the campaign. He said: “This one comes first in the set of trophies that are up for grabs. Clearly, that means it’s the first chance to win silverware.
“We want to try and win everything we enter and of course you want to be successful in this competition. If you manage to win it, it sets you up for the rest of the season - it gives you more confidence and belief in what you are doing.
“It’s an important cup. The first one always is and if we can get it, it will give us another bounce for the rest of the season.”
McGregor won’t underestimate Gers but he believes Celtic are in a strong place at the moment on the back of nine domestic wins on the spin and 31 goals scored since the Old Firm draw at Ibrox in January.
He said: “It will be a good game and a good spectacle. We will go into it with the same energy and intensity as we always do.
“We will see how Rangers approach it on the day but we won’t change. As long as we bring that same energy and composure to the game, hopefully we will be successful.
“They have signed a few new players and it will be interesting to come up against them. Our squad is looking good. Everybody is feeling strong and the team is functioning well, and is really cohesive.
“We have scored a lot of goals and we aren’t conceding too many. As a unit we are playing well and that is always what we look at when we are building as a team.”
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