McGregor says cup final win would confirm Celtic’s progress

Captain Callum McGregor believes winning the Premier Sports Cup final against Hibernian on Sunday would confirm Celtic’s progress under Ange Postecoglou.

The former Australia boss has stamped his mark on the Parkhead club since taking over in the summer with a new-look team and a high-tempo style of play, and the last-gasp 2-1 win at Ross County in midweek made it six wins in a row for the in-form Hoops.

McGregor, who took over as Celtic skipper after Scott Brown left for Aberdeen at the end of last season, believes picking up the first trophy of Postecoglou’s reign would signal the club is heading in the right direction.

Looking forward to the showpiece occasion at Hampden Park, the Scotland midfielder said: “As a group, we are still early stages in our development and we have managed to get to the final.

“When the big games come around, you do everything you can to win them and hopefully that is the case.

“It would obviously give us a massive lift in terms of the indicators that we are doing the right things and we are getting better as a group.

“The boys are feeling good, really confident on the back of some really good performances.

“We have kept a lot of clean sheets, we have been defending well so everyone is in a good place mentally and when you get the chance to win silverware it just adds a little bit of extra excitement.

“In terms of that, we keep working hard, stay calm and then when we approach the game on Sunday we give everything to win.”

Hibs will be guided by caretaker boss David Gray for a third game following the sacking of Jack Ross.

Belgium assistant Shaun Maloney looks likely to be installed as a permanent successor to Ross, who departed after some poor league performances either side of a stunning semi-final win over Rangers at the national stadium, but McGregor is focused only on Celtic.

The former Hoops academy player said: “That is the thing with cup competitions, it is a one-off and if you perform well on the day, you have a great chance of winning.

“That is what we have to guard against.

“Hibs have always been a tough opponent for us, they take the game to us and we need to handle that.

“We will be preparing the game plan properly and we will try to execute it and hopefully that is good enough on the day to win.”