Callum McGregor: Celtic must win ‘at least five or six’ games for title chance

Callum McGregor does not believe Celtic are out of the William Hill Premiership title race but admitted they would have to win “at least five or six” of their closing seven matches to have any chance of retaining their crown.

The champions slipped five points adrift of leaders Hearts and two behind city rivals Rangers after crashing to an eighth league defeat of the season away to Dundee United on Sunday.

McGregor conceded the 2-0 loss at Tannadice was their worst day in either of Martin O’Neill’s two spells in charge this season.

Asked if it would prove fatal to their title hopes, the captain said: “No, I don’t think so. You don’t want to lose football games, but there’s still so much football to be played.

“The top five teams are really competitive, so there’s points to play for there. We have to be as good as we can be and put a run together that gives us the best chance of winning the league.”

When it was put to McGregor that Celtic might have to win all seven of their remaining matches, he replied: “Listen, time will tell. We’ll see if we need to win them all or not, but I think we have to go on a run.

“Certainly, you’ve got to win at least five or six to have a good chance.”

Celtic return to action away to Dundee a week on Sunday and McGregor stressed that everyone at the club must remain “calm” if they are to have any chance of hauling themselves back into contention.

“We know where we are and I think now’s the time for calm heads,” said the midfielder. “I get it, it’s emotional, people will be emotional and angry about the result.

“None more so than the players. It’s their life, what they give to the game and what they give to the club. But in a time like this, you need to be calm.

“You need to understand where the team needs to get to, what we need to do to be successful.

“We’ve been here many, many times. And once these games ramp up, once we get back, then we have to try and control as much as what we can do and hopefully go on a run.”

Scottish football is enjoying the rarity of a three-way title race, but McGregor believes that scenario is largely down to Celtic – who are 17 points worse off than at the same stage last season – underperforming.

“I think we’ve probably manufactured it ourselves a wee bit, if I’m being honest,” he said.

“Now there’s a big challenge. We’ve had tight ones over the years, but probably only really two teams (Celtic and Rangers) going for it.

“Now there’s obviously three and you have to be competitive in every game.

“We need to come back from the break, train well and make sure we do enough, get the team looking the way that we want and attack the last seven games and see where we get to.”