The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Added incentive as Hoops can clinch title
Callum McGregor claims Celtic’s task in clinching the Ladbrokes Premiership title could be no tougher than a trip to Easter Road today.
The Hoops are one win away from their seventh successive league triumph and remain on track for an unprecedented second straight domestic treble.
Hibernian have drawn 2-2 home and away against the Parkhead side this term and narrowly lost a third league game 1-0, while going down 4-2 in their Betfred Cup semi-final clash.
McGregor believes confidence has increased after Celtic’s 4-0 William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final win over Old Firm rivals Rangers last Sunday, but knows it will not be easy against fourth-placed Hibs, who retain aspirations of a second-place finish.
“We’ve prepared well this week so hopefully we can finish the job and get the title done,” he said.
“We’re excited and raring to go. Off the back of a good result at the weekend the confidence is high and we want to go and finish it off as quickly as possible.
“Hibs have been a great opponent for us. They have pace in the team, they can score goals and they can defend. The games we’ve had against them have been tough.
“It would have been tough to pick a harder opponent but everyone is looking forward to the challenge and we’re only one win away from the title, so that should spur us on.”
McGregor is enjoying the best season of his career at Celtic, having broken into the Scotland set-up and taken his goal tally to 10 so far. The most recent came against the Light Blues last weekend.
Indeed, boss Brendan Rodgers claimed the 24-year-old utility player was his version of former Bayern Munich and Germany star Philipp Lahm.
The former Celtic youth player said: “In terms of performance level and my goal return and assists, I would say this is the best form I’ve had at Celtic.
“It’s just been a combination of everything – hard work, and the manager has been great in giving me that confidence to play.
“When you influence big games it gives you that confidence you can go and perform on a big stage.
“He’s always speaking to me in terms of how big a role he thinks I can play in the team and giving me confidence to go and affect games and to try and win games for Celtic,” he said.