Celtic captain says Old Firm as crucial as ever
Celtic captain Callum McGregor has said that his team is as hungry as ever to win the Old Firm derby on Friday, despite its prolonged dominance in the fixture.
Brendan Rodgers's side goes to Ibrox with a lead of 14 points over second-placed Rangers, who have gone seven Old Firm games without a victory.
Celtic also beat Rangers in both of the major domestic cup finals in 2024, while its only defeat to its city rival in the last 14 meetings came after it had already won the league title in 2023.
"We want to win every game, especially when the big ones come around. You want to win them as well," McGregor said. "That's where you're judged. You're judged on these games, you're judged on the success rate of these games.
"That's where we want to be as a squad when we arrive into the big moments.
"I keep saying this to the players, it has to become normal for us to arrive in big moments and deliver and perform. Thursday is just another test for us."
Celtic was pushed all the way by Rangers in December's Scottish League Cup final, which ended 3-3 before Celtic won 5-4 on penalties.
The Bhoys come into this match in fine form as well, having netted eight goals in their last two matches, while they are on an 18-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
"Generally, the way that we want to play is the same every week and just adding layers all the time," McGregor said.
"So, we'll 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."
When asked whether the respective league positions of the clubs – and the gap between them – will have a bearing on the game, McGregor suggested it would not.
"No, never," he said. "It's a derby game. You want to win. So, regardless of where the standings are on the table, everybody wants to win. We want to win.
"Rangers will want to win. Both sets of supporters will want to win. So, there's always everything on these games."
