Celtic skipper issues rally cry to tie loose ends ahead of crucial Old Firm derby

Celtic captain Callum McGregor is on a quest to ensure they always deliver on the big occasion as the Hoops bid to continue their recent domination over their city rivals.

Celtic ended 2024 with three trophies and just two defeats – against Hearts and Borussia Dortmund – and their performances against Rangers were a crucial aspect of that success.

The William Hill Premiership champions beat their city rivals in both of 2024’s major domestic finals and have now gone seven derby games unbeaten.

Their only defeat against Rangers in 14 matches came after they had already clinched the 2023 title.

Speaking in an exclusive interview, McGregor revealed that his side wants to win every game, emphasizing the Rangers games coming ahead.

McGregor also stressed the importance of turning up into big games and charging his side to deliver and perform as Thursday is nuts another test for the Celts.

Generally, we. Hope to play the same way every week and just add layers all the time,” he said.

“So, we’ll take a close 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.” He said.

Come Thursday Celtic will hope to extend their lead and claim more bragging rights on the SPFL table when they travel to the IBROX stadium and take on Rangers. 

No fresh concerns have come to light after the Bhoys’ double-header against Motherwell and St Johnstone, with Nicolas Kuhn and Alistair Johnston enjoying successful returns from injury.

The main debate for Brendan Rodgers comes in midfield, where Arne Engels, Paulo Bernardo, and Luke McCowan are all in contention to start, aside from Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate.

Kyogo Furuhashi will likely lead the line over Adam Idah due to his match-winning quality rearing its head in several derby encounters over recent seasons.