The Celtic midfield goal rush causing 'chain reaction' in rivals as 'DNA' McGregor casts eye over top scorer charts

Brendan Rodgers could quite easily just have shut up shop and come away from Aberdeen with a point but Callum McGregor knows that is just not the Celtic way.

Who could have blamed them? It was a horrible night, the wind and rain battered the north-east while the chasing Dons almost hit the champions with as much force. Celtic, however, weren’t about to be blown off-course. They couldn’t play the free-flowing football of recent weeks but they found a way to get over the line at Aberdeen thanks to a Reo Hatate winner.

McGregor knows his team could have just settled for a point but has insisted that is just not in the DNA of his club. That is why they are now seven points clear in the Premiership, with a game-in-hand. Having just dropped two points from a possible 14 games. McGregor stated: “No, I don’t think that’s in our DNA at Celtic. At this club, you have to win every game.

“The way we played, I think if you’d come away with a draw and never got the goal, performance-wise you’d have been reasonably happy. But straight away, you’d have then been thinking ‘dropped points’ and everyone feels differently about the game.

“It showed a really good mentality that even on a difficult night, we can produce that level of quality to get us the win. Obviously, everyone feels great about themselves and everything just keeps rolling on with that momentum.”

McGregor admitted that conditions at Aberdeen were as tough as he has played in domestically. He stated: “Yes, it was quite bad, but it’s December in Scotland.

“It’s difficult but the players handled it really well. I thought we showed a really good level technically and tactically in the game. I thought we were excellent.”

Celtic certainly got the basics right and that gave them