Callum McGregor seems to have revenge on his mind for Celtic against Kilmarnock this weekend.
The Hoops skipper was part of the side that went down at Rugby Park in August and exited the League Cup as a result.
Our last 16 defeat was a tough one to take as it ended our hopes of another treble just weeks into the new season.
Seven matches may have passed since then but McGregor still has that match firmly on his mind ahead of this weekend’s league clash against the Ayrshire side.
“We have to dust ourselves down as we have a big game on Saturday,” he told The Herald.
“We owe them one for the cup – there will be a bit of motivation there.
“You don’t ever want to lose games ever. It annoys you. Even when you drop points, those are the ones you remember for next time, and do everything you can to put it right. That will be the message at the weekend.
“You only get nights like the other night if you do well in the league. That is your bread and butter, and you need to make sure you are on the ball. I’m sure we will be.”
“The last two or three weeks the performances have started to get more slick. It’s been getting better week on week. We have to learn from the other night, take the positives in terms of the performance, and keep pushing forward.
“It was a wee bit sluggish at the start [of the season], but we seem to be getting a lot slicker. We’ve spent more time on the training pitch and we’re starting to get to know the new boys’ games.”
Celtic don’t lose many cup matches — just four since the middle of 2016 — so it hurts when we do. You better believe that the squad will have been hurting from going out so easily at Rugby Park.
It is good to hear that they’re motivated for Saturday’s game, even if the circumstances are very different this time around.
It’s just a case of continuing to win these league matches while our rivals look frail. Rangers look like dropping points every time they play so we could find ourselves with an even larger advantage at the top if we just keep churning out the victories.
The Lazio result was disappointing but there were a lot of positives to take away. The team may be starting to pick up a bit of steam at long last. That could continue against Killie.
In other news, superb Celtic efforts recognised by FIFA and time is running out to get involved
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