Callum McGregor confesses Rangers defeat is a 'slap in the face' as he issues Celtic big finish pledge

It was more of a cuddle than a huddle at the end for Callum McGregor but he put his arms around the Celtic squad and gave them a defiant message.

The captain told his men they can’t allow the Treble pain hold back the Hoops in their quest to land the Premiership title.

McGregor refused to gloss over yesterday’s Scottish Cup defeat. The midfielder was desperate to set up a crack at another trophy but he admitted Celts didn’t do enough to shake off their bitter foes.

But he’s also well aware there is still a huge prize at stake with the title on the line and Celtic have come too far to let it slip now.

McGregor said: “This is one of the few times we’ve had a bit of a slap in the face. So it’s important that we show everyone to react in the right way.

“That’s all we can do now. It’s gone.

“You can analyse the game or whatever. But the fact is it doesn’t come back.

“We have to regroup, we’ll talk about it.

“But ultimately, we’re looking at the end of the season and we want to make it a successful season. There’s five games to win the league and that’s what we have to do.

“We have to regroup, go again take the disappointment, we accept it.

“It’s never nice, it feels horrible, I can tell you. In there, everyone was devastated.

“But, we’ve got five games to win the league and that’s where we have to go. We have to go again.

“Harness all the good stuff we’ve done this year and learn from that, take that forward.

“We’ve got a big finish to the end of the season.

“There is only thing guaranteed in football and that’s disappointment. You have to accept it, take it on the chin and show people what you are about – that you’re made of strong stuff.

“We’ve got to show that as a group.

“We have got ourselves in a good position and