Celtic looking to tidy up errors ahead of Glasgow derby against Rangers

Celtic captain Callum McGregor is on a quest to ensure they always deliver on the big occasion as the Hoops bid to continue their recent domination over their city rivals.

Celtic ended 2024 with three trophies and just two defeats – against Hearts and Borussia Dortmund – and their performances against Rangers were a crucial aspect of that success.

The William Hill Premiership champions beat their city rivals in both of 2024's major domestic finals and have now gone seven derby games unbeaten.

Their only defeat against Rangers in 14 matches came after they had already clinched the 2023 title.

McGregor said: "We want to win every game, especially when the big ones come around, you want to win them as well.

"That’s where you’re judged. You’re judged on these games. You’re judged on the success rate of these games.

"That’s where we want to be as a squad when we arrive into the big moments. I keep saying this to the players, it has to become normal for us to arrive in big moments and deliver and perform. Thursday is just another test for us."

Rangers delivered one of their better recent derby performances in last month’s Premier Sports Cup final, drawing 3-3 before Celtic won the shootout.

McGregor admitted at Hampden that his side played "nowhere near" their usual level before showing their mentality to get over the line.

The midfielder believes Celtic will arrive at Ibrox in good form on Thursday after scoring eight goals in two matches.

"Generally, the way that we want to play is the same every week and just adding layers all the time," he said.

"So, we’ll look at the game and see where we can be better, see where we can maybe exploit that sort of mid-pitch block from Rangers and see the combinations that we need to get through that