Callum McGregor admits the New Year Rangers thumping will have hurt serial winner Brendan Rodgers.
But the Celtic skipper is confident the manager and his squad will use the Ibrox pain to drive the push towards the Premiership crown. The champions were left stunned by the sore one in Govan as Gers ended their seven match derby winless streak in stunning style.
Celts – who suffered third first domestic loss since March last season – are still streets ahead in the title race with an 11-point chasm between the rivals. But McGregor insisted Rodgers and his side won’t simply shrug off the derby disappointment as a bad day at the office. He said: “You can tell he’s hurting, as is everyone. So that’s the sign of a competitor. It doesn’t matter how many points you’ve got, how many games you’ve won, or how well you’re doing, if you lose one game, it stings and it hurts.
“So that’s the sign of a champion and an absolute competitor. So it’s good that we feel like this, and we’ll use it as fuel to turn around. The players know, the players are happy to take responsibility. It’s us who go out and try and perform and try and deliver the success that we need, so we have to take responsibility when it doesn’t go well.
“That’s what we’ve got, the big characters who will take responsibility, we’ll find a way to fix it, and then we’ll try and rectify it as quickly as we can.”
Rodgers admitted in the aftermath his side lacked an edge in the clash – perhaps down to the 14 point comfort zone going in. McGregor insisted there was no complacency in the build up but Rangers going ahead early grabbed the momentum and Celtic could never get going.
The Light Blues struck inside the opening seven minutes on Thursday and racked up a record 24 shots on the Hoops goal – with the visitors mustering a single effort on target. McGregor admitted his side were well below par but is looking for a quick fire recovery against St Mirren.
He said: “I think the way the game played out you could see it. We didn’t start the game well. When the crowd get involved, they get on top of the game and then it is difficult to change that.
“But I don’t think at any point in the game we were competitive enough that we thought we were going to get back into the game. So, we have to accept that as players. We have to take our medicine and try and rectify it as quickly as we can.
“There’s no point in having any excuses. We turned up here, we wanted to win the game, but we were never really competitive in the game, so the only thing you can do is accept responsibility and find a way to change it.
“That’s why we’re here. We’re here to try and win as many football matches as we can. And then when it goes wrong, you have to reflect and find out why.”
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