Celtic captain Callum McGregor calls for steady nerves as his team battles to revive their Premiership title hopes following a 2-0 loss to Dundee United at Tannadice. The defeat sends Celtic into the international break five points behind Hearts and two adrift of Rangers, with seven crucial matches left.
The champions aim to make history as the first team in the three-points-for-a-win era to secure the title after eight losses. Rivals face off first over Easter weekend, intensifying pressure before Celtic’s trip to Dundee at Dens Park.
McGregor Stresses Composure and Winning Run
McGregor backs his manager’s stance that no more errors can be tolerated. “Listen, time will tell. We’ll see if we need to win them all or not. But I think we have to go on a run. Certainly, you’ve got to win at least five or six to have a good chance. So, listen, we know where we are,” the skipper stated.
“I think now’s the time for calm heads. It’s an emotional situation, of course it is. But we have to be calm and understand where we want to be as a team and how we’re going to get there. And then ultimately it’s about the players carrying that out on the pitch as well.”
No Excuses for Subpar Display
Recent form showed promise—a comeback draw at Rangers, plus victories over Aberdeen and Motherwell—but momentum stalled at Tannadice. Despite the uneven pitch, McGregor rejects any alibis for the lackluster showing.
“Poor afternoon, poor result, poor performance as well,” he admitted. “I think we have to be honest. Over the two spells with Martin and Shaun (Maloney), I think that’s probably the worst that we’ve been.”
“When you go to Tannadice, it’s difficult. Obviously, everyone sees the conditions, of course it plays a factor in the game. You want to try and overcome that, of course you do. But I think we have to look at ourselves. We never did enough. We never really created that many chances either. It’s one we have to take on the chin.”
The break allows analysis and refocus for the final stretch. “There’s a huge seven games to try and be as good a team as we can be. And hopefully we do enough in those seven games to be where we want to be.”
Path Forward Remains Open
The 32-year-old insists the Tayside setback does not doom Celtic in the tight three-way contest. “No, I don’t think so. You don’t want to lose football games and that’s obvious. But there’s still so much football to be played.”
Four-time defending champions, Celtic draw on proven resilience. “People will be emotional and angry about the result. None more so than the players. It’s their life in there. But at a time like this, you need to be calm.”
“We’ve been here many, many times. And once these games ramp up, we have to try and control as much of what we can do and hopefully go on a run.”
Squad depth improves post-break, with Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels set to return. Julian Araujo heads back to Bournemouth for injury care. “There’s obviously been many challenges this season as well in terms of big players being missing for large periods of time. It looks like we’re getting a couple back, who are big players for us. So, it really strengthens the squad again and gives us some options.”
