Callum McGregor believes that Celtic’s defensive record has been ignored by the critics since the turn of the year.
Despite the apparent turmoil at the club and the loss of three key figures Celtic have only lost three domestic goals since they returned from a week of January training in Dubai.
In the first game of 2019 Scott Bain pulled off a remarkable triple save against Airdrie United that set the tone even though Filip Benkovic and Dedryck Boyata suffered lengthy injury lay offs.
A penalty from Hearts, a highly controversial goal from Gboly Ariyibi of Motherwell and a derby goal from Ryan Kent are the only times that Bain has had to pick the ball out of the net as Celtic close in on a treble treble.
Celtic’s defence is perceived as a problem area but ahead of Sunday’s derby match McGregor is keen to highlight the role of his defensive team-mates.
“We go there with good confidence – not arrogance at all – just confidence that if we turn up on the day and play well then we can hope for a good result,” the midfielder told The Telegraph.
“That [the December 29 derby] was the one time in a two-and-a-half or three-year period when the boys didn’t turn up in a big match. We went away to Dubai after it, came back and have been brilliant. We have not lost a game and we have lost only three goals domestically this year. We have been fully focused since that day. We learned from it and came back a lot stronger.”
Looking at the perception of this season in general he added:
“There just seems to be a negative aura around it this year. The boys have been playing well, winning games and are in the Scottish Cup Final.
“If we win that, it will be a treble Treble but apparently it’s been a poor season. We’ve always been focused, knowing if we prepare well and turn up on the day then we’ll get the job done.
“I don’t really know why it’s been negative but we’ve always tried to prove on the pitch everything is fine, despite the change in manager and everything. We actually have more points this season than last year, so I think it’s more of a perception thing.”