Celtic haven't beat Rangers to title yet insists Murdo MacLeod as he urges Hoops to 'go and earn it' like 1998

Murdo MacLeod has been in the same situation as Ange Postecoglou.

Back in 1998, he was assistant to Wim Jansen when Celtic had to recover and regroup from a disappointing Treble-wrecking 2-1 Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Rangers to get their hands on a league title.

Jansen and MacLeod’s squad, led by Tom Boyd, did it back then. He believes Postecoglou and the group fronted by Callum McGregor will do it now.

But the former Parkhead hero has warned they are going to have to fight for the flag as it is not going to be handed to them on a plate.

Celtic hold a six-point lead and have five games left, starting against Ross County on Sunday, to get the job done.

MacLeod and Jansen’s team had six after their semi-final heartache and it was a grind for Henrik Larsson and team-mates to get over the line. Celtic lost the last Old Firm encounter of the season 2-0 at Ibrox after goals from Jonas Thern and Jorg Albertz sank them.

After Rangers squandered that success by losing next time out at Aberdeen, Celtic were held back again with dropped points at home to Hibernian after Alex McLeish’s side dug out a 0-0 draw.

Even when Walter Smith’s team flopped against Kilmarnock to leave their rivals knowing a victory at Dunfermline in the penultimate game would wrap it up, Craig Faulconbridge scored for the Fifers with just seven minutes remaining to ramp the tension up even more.

Larsson and Harald Brattbakk struck to beat St Johnstone on the final day and get Celtic hands on the trophy, ending Gers’ bid for 10-in-a-row.

But it was far from a smooth run to glory and MacLeod believes the relaxed approach of some opponents in the next month will mean his old club will have to dig deep to win it.

He said: “It’s going to be a