| Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Sunday, 26 February Time: 15:00 GMT |
| Coverage: Listen live on BBC Radio Scotland and follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport Scotland website and app |
Callum McGregor hopes Celtic can “rectify” their Hampden loss to Rangers when the sides meet in Sunday’s Viaplay Cup final.
Rangers defeated Ange Postecoglou’s side en route to winning the Scottish Cup, with Celtic ending the campaign as Premiership and League Cup winners.
Both sides are still in this season’s Scottish Cup while Celtic are nine points clear at the top of the league.
“When you lose a big game like that, it hurts you,” said McGregor.
“And it stays with you probably for the rest of your career, the rest of your life, but it’s important that when you get the chance to try to rectify that then of course you give absolutely everything to put that right. Probably most importantly, to put it right for the supporters.
“So, of course, we have that added motivation that they got one over on us the last time at Hampden. We’ll try to fix that but the only way to fix that is to stay calm and stay focussed on what we’ve been doing – approach the game in the right way and then on Sunday, we have to turn up and do all the right things to win the game.”
McGregor, 29, is closing in on his 17th winner’s medal for Celtic and his sixth in the League Cup.
“Everybody knows it’s a big game, a game of consequence and I’ve always said this – as a football player, you want to be involved in big games, in games of consequence where things are on the line,” added the Scotland midfielder.
“That’s what excites you as a player. You know what’s coming at the end of the week but you have to trust your process and what gets you success and what’s brought success over recent times. You have experience through the good times and the bad times.
“It’s obviously important in terms of the context of the season as well. If we can be successful, it gives us a bounce to continue the rest of the season and try to be as successful as we can. We all get the rewards as a team if we all turn up and do the right things. The full focus is on the players and what we have to do on Sunday.”
