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McGregor wants no let-up as Celtic aim to maintain Old Firm grip / Photo: © AFP
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McGregor wants no let-up as Celtic aim to maintain Old Firm grip
Celtic captain Callum McGregor has insisted his side's recent domination of the Glasgow derby has in no way diminished the fixture's importance ahead of Thursday's clash with Rangers.
Scottish champions Celtic travel to Ibrox already 14 points clear of their arch-rivals at the top of the Premiership table and having beaten Rangers in both of 2024's major domestic finals.
Celtic have now gone seven Old Firm games unbeaten, with their only defeat against Rangers in 14 matches coming after they had already clinched the 2023 title.
"We want to win every game, especially when the big ones come around, you want to win them as well," said McGregor. "That's where you're judged. You're judged on these games. You're judged on the success rate of these games.
"That's where we want to be as a squad when we arrive into the big moments. I keep saying this to the players, it has to become normal for us to arrive in big moments and deliver and perform. Thursday is just another test for us."
Rangers, however, pushed Celtic close in last month's Scottish League Cup final at Hampden, drawing 3-3 before Celtic won the penalty shoot-out.
But the Hoops will kick-off on Thursday in fine form after scoring eight goals in two matches.
"Generally, the way that we want to play is the same every week and just adding layers all the time," said McGregor, 31.
The midfielder added: "So, we'll look at the game and see where we can be better, see where we can maybe exploit that sort of mid-pitch block from Rangers and see the combinations that we need to get through that bit of the pitch and try and cause some problems."
Optimism generated in the Rangers' camp by their improved showing in the League Cup final may have been tempered by the Light Blues dropping points against St Mirren and Motherwell last week to leave Celtic with a huge lead going into 2025.
But McGregor insisted the two clubs' league positions would have no bearing on Thursday's match.
"No, never," he said. "It's a derby game. You want to win. So, regardless of where the standings are on the table, everybody wants to win. We want to win.
"Rangers will want to win. Both sets of supporters will want to win. So, there's always everything on these games."
M. Taylor--BTZ
