Celtic captain Callum McGregor has urged his teammates to move on quickly from their disappointing 2-1 defeat to Hibernian, stressing that while off days happen, the team must remain focused on their pursuit of a domestic treble.
Despite the loss, Celtic remain 13 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership and have already secured the League Cup. Their next challenge comes in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals, where they will once again face Hibs in what will be a crucial step towards another clean sweep.
McGregor, however, refuses to get ahead of himself, insisting his side must stay grounded.
“No, we’ve never said that. It’s one thing that we don’t do. We don’t speak out of turn. We take every game and we respect every single opponent,” McGregor said to RecordSport.
“We try and do our talking on the pitch as much as we can. We know that we’re a mile away from any success. We’ve obviously won the League Cup but that’s it.”
The midfielder acknowledged the setback but believes the squad has the experience to respond positively. With Aberdeen visiting Parkhead on Tuesday, McGregor wants Celtic to get back to business immediately.
“The players know how demanding the league is and what you’ve got to do to win it. The good thing is we’ve been here before and we understand what it takes. As always after a defeat you have to take stock and take your medicine a little bit and find out where you went wrong. We go again on Tuesday and like you said we have another opportunity in the cup [against Hibs in March].”
Celtic will now look to bounce back immediately against Aberdeen before shifting their attention to the Scottish Cup quarter-final showdown with Hibs next month.
Before the Hibs match in the Scottish Cup, Celtic will also face a trip to St Mirren, who beat Philippe Clement’s side on Saturday, which kept the gap at 13. It’s the first time in 45 years that the buddies have got back to back wins over Rangers
