Callum McGregor fesses up to the Celtic 'warning signs' before Rangers as he looks for engine room 'tweak'

In the last couple of years the midfield battle has been so one-sided, Callum McGregor could have planted a flag in the centre circle and pulled out of a deckchair.

But all of a sudden the Celtic skipper knows he has a scrap on his hands in the most crucial area of the pitch. The last two Old Firm games has certainly seen a shift. McGregor has seen it too. Celtic were so dominant in the centre for three seasons it was barely a fight. Yet in the first half at Hampden in the League Cup Final and again at Ibrox the other day, it was Rangers who had the upper hand.

It was a slight shock seeing Hoops playmakers so rushed on the ball, so poor in possession and wasteful with their passes. A lot of it was down to Gers, hunting in packs and refusing to give Celtic an inch. Reo Hatate had one of those days where practically everything he touched turned to blue. Paulo Bernardo didn’t fare much better and even McGregor, who was a marked man at all times, fell into the turnover trap. It didn’t help Arne Engels falling ill on the day of the game, when the Belgian was already on the teamsheet.

But it would be a cop out to offer his absence up as a reason for defeat as this was no weakened midfield three. Not many Hoops punters would swap any of them for anyone in the Rangers squad, yet it was Nico Raskin, Mohamed Diomande and Nedim Bajrami who came out on top.

Across the city, Ibrox punters might feel Philippe Clement has finally figured out his rivals at the seventh time of asking. McGregor wouldn’t go that far – but he admitted there might need to be a tactical shift in the midfield battleground.

He said: “Yeah, they were set up with the low block and we were finding it hard to get through. We need to look at that and we need to