Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
‘Everyone wanted Hoops to fail after Gers defeat’
NIR Bitton claims everyone wanted Celtic to “fail” before they recovered from their Old Firm defeat to storm clear of Rangers at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership.
The Light Blues’ 2-1 win at Celtic Park on December 29 took Steven Gerrard’s side to within two points of the champions at the top of the Premiership with a game in hand, with a promise of a tense title battle to come.
However, the Light Blues’ surge failed to materialise and Celtic have motored away at the start of 2020 and – despite dropping their first points of the year with a 2-2 draw at Livingston on Wednesday – they extended their lead over Rangers to 13 points having played a game more, after the Gers lost 1-0 at home to Hamilton.
“It’s football. Liverpool are 22 points clear in Premier League, so nobody expected that,” said the 28-year-old Israel international.
“I mean, it’s a good advantage for us but we created it, we made it happen.
“I think after the Old Firm game before the winter break everyone killed us, everyone wanted us to fail.
“But it’s a winning mentality around the dressing-room, around the club. It is the belief. And we knew that if we’re going to do the things right, we’re going to come back stronger.
“We were very disappointed to drop points on Wednesday night. We gave away two goals that put us under pressure for no reason.
“We need to cut it from the next games and need to make sure that we win the league as soon as possible. We were 12 points ahead before so one more point, it’s OK. It’s a long way to go.
“Still nine games to go, and 27 points is enough points to try to close the gap.”