Callum McGregor has brutally told some of Celtic's critics that they have 'too much time on their hands'.
The club captain responded to a question about the Hoops' record in Europe this season and over the recent past as a whole.
Celtic will play their final Champions League group stage game against Feyenoord tomorrow evening in Glasgow. It's been a difficult campaign for Brendan Rodgers' side, having amassed just one point against Atletico Madrid from five games so far.
Despite not being able to qualify for any form of European football post-Christmas, the Scottish champions will be aiming to go out on a high with a victory over the Dutch giants on Wednesday.
Should they manage to earn all three points then it will be the first time the club has won a Champions League group game since Rodgers' first spell seven years ago when Celtic defeated Anderlecht.
McGregor is keen to put any thoughts about the club's European record to the back of his mind, as he insists the focus simply has to be on getting back to winning ways after a bitterly disappointing loss at Kilmarnock on Sunday.
He said: "I think people like to have too much time on their hands and they come up with these statistics and I've said it out there as well that you can't label that at this year's group or last year's group. It's a longer-term thing.
"Even before that, the club haven't even been in the Champions League for the last four years, so it all starts to add up over the years.
"We understand we want to be competitive, when we get to this level we have to make an impact. Everyone at the clubs know that, knows the position on it. If we win tomorrow night everyone stops talking about, it gives you that belief and hopefully we're back here next season and can kick on from there.
"It's important we keep everything internal, we know the messages we're trying to set, the standards. The performances, we believe we should've had more points but we have to prove it on the pitch."
