Celtic are in a bit of a slump right now and Callum McGregor has issued a demand to his teammates about the poor performances.
Celtic’s defeat to Dundee has set the cat amongst the pigeons this week as fan anger boils over at the team’s weak performance at Dens Park.
In truth, the defeat has been coming, but the manner in which Celtic surrendered their unbeaten start to the season has not sat well with supporters.
With two big fixtures against Sturm Graz and Hearts coming up, Callum McGregor has set his Celtic teammates an ultimatum with a call to arms for the week ahead.
Callum McGregor tells his Celtic teammates to use criticism to spur Sturm Graz and Hearts wins
Celtic are five points behind Hearts in the Scottish Premiership and languishing in the bottom third of the Europa League.
And whilst McGregor recognises Celtic fan anger at the Dundee defeat, the captain has now set a non-negotiable challenge to his teammates for the week ahead.
McGregor told the Daily Record, “It has to be [criticism being used as motivation], it has been in the past. Any wee days like this that we’ve had have usually helped galvanise the group and make everybody fight a little bit more to show people.
“This is what it’s like playing at Celtic. Everyone thinks it’s great, you’re winning trophies… you only win trophies if you’re together and you’re ready to fight and you’re ready to run and minimise the amount of days like this, because at this moment in time, we’re too easy to play against.
“It’s a massive week. We need a result in both, we need to win both games.
“So that’s what it’s about being at Celtic, you have to respond to poor days and show why you’re a champion and show why you should be here. That is now the challenge to the players.”
What will happen if Celtic beat Hearts and Sturm Graz
If Celtic can pick up two wins from their next two fixtures then the Parkhead picture will look a lot better.
In the Europa League, depending on results elsewhere, if Celtic do beat the Austrian club, there is the potential to move into the unseeded knockout play-off places.
A win against Hearts will move Celtic to within two points of the league leaders and pile the pressure onto Derek McInnes and his team.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  Heart Of MidlothianHeart Of Midlothian | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 22 |
| 2 |  CelticCeltic | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 17 |
| 3 |  HibernianHibernian | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 11 |
| 4 |  Dundee UtdDundee Utd | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 13 | 1 | 10 |
| 5 |  KilmarnockKilmarnock | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 10 |
With a lot to play for, Celtic fans will be hoping that the team will heed McGregor’s warning and go all out to grab the full six points over both competitions.
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