Callum McGregor urges Celtic to ‘snap out of it’ as captain gets tough

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Callum McGregor is a captain who leads by example on the pitch for Celtic.

He is not the shouty, raging player who tears strips off his teammates. Not in public, anyway.

But the midfielder, 31, has urged the Celtic squad to “snap out” of their funk which wasn’t helped by their 1-0 defeat away to bottom of the Scottish Premiership table St Johnstone over the weekend.

It was a stark reminder that complacency can kick in at any point if the Hoops aren’t careful and McGregor insists his job is to try and prevent that from happening.

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Callum McGregor tells Celtic to ‘snap out’ of complacency after St Johnstone loss

So when Celts take on Kilmarnock this weekend and then Saints again in the Scottish Cup semi-final in the following fixture, it has to be a much improved effort.

McGregor said: “My role as captain is trying to guard against as much complacency as possible.

“It’s trying to get the most out of the players, trying to lead by example of the senior players when we get to the pitch, we have to drive the intensity of the whole thing, which to be fair, in the main, we’ve done really well, it is obviously a sore one to lose this game

“Sometimes football has got a funny way of keeping you honest and with so much football to be played, then, that’s a little reminder that you have to be on it every minute of every game.

“That’s the thing, we have to shake out of it. Everybody is talking, you hear the noise of when are you going to win the league, we have to perform to make sure that we get over the line.

“We’ve put ourselves in an unbelievable position with so many games to go. People then start thinking it’s inevitable that you’re just going to turn up and it’s going to happen, and that’s the bit where we give away the goal, and then because of the way the game turns out, that’s the way it looks and it’s not a good look.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	CelticCeltic	32	25	3	4	92	21	71	78
2	RangersRangers	32	20	5	7	66	33	33	65
3	HibernianHibernian	32	13	11	8	50	41	9	50
4	AberdeenAberdeen	32	14	7	11	43	47	-4	49
5	Dundee UtdDundee Utd	32	13	8	11	40	40	0	47
6	Heart Of MidlothianHeart Of Midlothian	32	11	6	15	43	44	-1	39
7	St MirrenSt Mirren	32	11	5	16	42	52	-10	38
8	MotherwellMotherwell	32	11	5	16	37	56	-19	38
9	KilmarnockKilmarnock	32	9	8	15	37	53	-16	35
10	Ross CountyRoss County	32	9	8	15	31	53	-22	35
11	DundeeDundee	32	9	7	16	50	67	-17	34
12	St JohnstoneSt Johnstone	32	8	5	19	33	57	-24	29

“So we have to snap out of that straight away. Next week we have to perform better for 90 minutes, get the win, and then see what that takes us. It’s difficult to get over the line when you’re so close, and obviously, the point difference is, there’s a fair margin in it, but we then still have to be doing everything we can to sprint over the line rather than just waiting for it to happen.

“Do we still have work to do? One hundred per cent and that’s the bit like I’m saying, football keeps you honest because it’s inevitable, the noise, some of it will probably seep in, but it’s our job to try and make sure that that we are professional and we do the job that’s in front of us and then we can enjoy it once we’ve crossed the line

“There is still a lot of football to be played.”

Celtic know the Treble is on the line if they don’t improve

On facing St Johnstone again so quickly after a loss, McGregor is comfortable with that.

The pressure may be on Brendan Rodgers‘ side right now given their showing at McDiarmid Park, but there’s no better way to get over a bad result than to put it right straight away.

“There’s a tough semi-final. You saw that on Sunday,” he added.

“It’s the perfect example. So if we’re going to take anything from the game, then we have to be razor sharp in the next five, six, seven weeks to make sure we end up where we think we will, but we have got to do that.

“Of course, you want to do it in style and probably in recent weeks that’s maybe got lost a little bit but actually, we’ve done so well to get to this point where we are comfortable and the points difference is so big but it’s wee bit that’s the hardest, to get over the lane and it’s difficult for the players.

“We’ve got to do it. We’ve put ourselves in an unbelievable position, so we’ve got to enjoy this bit where you’re flying through the line, you get the accolades that you want. As a team over 38 games, you deserve to be the champion and once you cross that line, then that’s the gratification that you’ll get amongst the players, amongst the supporters, amongst the club.”