Celtic captain Callum McGregor expects the pain of last season’s Hampden defeat by Rangers to live with him forever.
So he is determined to give everything to ensure there is no repeat for himself, his team-mates and the Celtic supporters on Sunday when the rivals meet again in the Viaplay Cup final.
Celtic were edging closer towards a potential treble when Greg Taylor opened the scoring in last season’s Scottish Cup semi-final but Rangers fought back to win the game in extra-time and went on to lift the trophy.
It was the second defeat McGregor had experienced against Rangers at the same stage but he has also scored in two semi-final wins over the Light Blues and he tasted success in the 2019-20 League Cup final derby.
“When you lose a big game like that, of course it hurts you and it stays with you probably for the rest of your career, the rest of your life,” the 29-year-old said.
“But it’s important that when you get a chance to try and rectify that, you give absolutely everything to put that right and, probably most importantly, to put it right for the supporters as well.
“So of course we have that added motivation that they got one over us last time at Hampden and we will try and fix that.
“But the only way to fix that is to stay calm and focused on what we have been doing, approach the game in the right way, and come Sunday we have to turn up and do all the right things to win the game.”
The midfielder added: “You need a lot of different things. Cup finals, you have to play well and you need a little bit of luck. The main thing for us is just to stay focused and continue doing what we have been doing.
“The team has good rhythm and good form so if we bring that into the game along with our other qualities, and concentration, stay calm, then I think we will be okay.
“Everybody knows it’s a big game, a game of consequence and that’s what you want as a player, to be involved in those games where things are on the line. That’s what excites you as a player.
“Obviously you know what’s coming at the end of the week but I believe you need to have a process and trust your process what gets you success and what has had success over recent times. It’s important you stick to that.
“You have experience through the good times and the bad times and when the game starts, it is there to be played.
“In terms of preparation, of course you are excited but you have to stick to your process throughout the week.”
Some of Celtic’s January signings have yet to experience the derby but McGregor feels they cannot escape its meaning.
“I think they probably very quickly find out what it’s about with probably the first couple of weeks of signing,” he said.
“Of course when you play them for the first time you get a real feel of what the fixture is like and what it’s about.
“I think the group is reasonably experienced in that now. Obviously we have had a couple join us since then but the momentum in the group is good and living in Glasgow you know exactly what it’s about and it’s just about the players staying calm.
“We trust ourselves, we trust the manager, we trust in what we are doing and if we put all those things together hopefully we can have a successful afternoon.”
Both sides have identical form since the World Cup with 13 wins and a draw each. The draw was a 2-2 one at Ibrox on January 2 when Michael Beale was minutes away from sealing a debut derby win as Rangers boss.
McGregor said: “In terms of the way they defended, they tried a couple of different systems to defend against us. Obviously we started the game really well and they then had to change system, they then changed again in the second half.
“We will wait to see what they do out of possession but we will look at the game, we will look at where we think we can hurt them and then we will look at where we think they are strong and what we need to do to stop them as well.
“It’s the same preparation for every game, we do that for everybody. Come the game we have to find the solution on the pitch.”
