Callum McGregor makes unflinching Celtic transfer demand for quality signings as skipper seeks 'next Jota'

Hurting Callum McGregor poured over the wreckage of Celtic’s 2-0 home defeat to Hearts and dubbed it one of the hardest days of his Celtic career.

Now the Hoops skipper has pleaded with the Parkhead board - who came under attack from brassed-off punters - to help Brendan Rodgers bring in the quality required in January to rescue their faltering title defence. Back-to-back defeats for the first time since March 2013 mean Rangers could now overtake the champions with a victory at Parkhead when the two collide on Old Firm derby day in a fortnight.

That prospect is barely worth thinking about for McGregor or any of his team mates just a few weeks after cruising eight points clear at the top. Rodgers hasn’t hidden his desire to bring in more quality - with only one of nine summer signings deemed good enough to start yesterday’s defeat to the excellent Jambos.

And crestfallen McGregor accused some of his team mates of “disrespecting” the hard parts of the game as they followed up last week’s defeat at Killie with another Premiership horror show. He said: “It’s now time to show why you are a Celtic player and who is capable of being a Celtic player. We speak about this all the time, it’s never plain sailing.

“We start the season well and we probably go seven, eight points clear. Everyone thinks the league’s wrapped up – but look where we’re sitting now. So, it tells you that it’s difficult and it’s not easy. And there’s bits in a season where you have to deal with disappointment and you have to deal with it quickly before it starts to fester. So I sit here in what’s probably one of the hardest days of my career as a Celtic player to come off and get beat here. That always hurts. It’s not happened to me too many times here. So,