Callum McGregor insists Celtic will stay calm and there’s no title tension within the camp.
The Parkhead skipper and his team-mates left Easter Road on Sunday frustrated at a failure to find a way past Hibs.
McGregor and his team-mates dominated the ball, but were unable to create enough clear-cut chances as they dropped two crucial points in the flag battle - though Rangers couldn't take advantage as they did the same at home to Motherwell.
With 10 games to go in the Premiership, it is getting to the nitty-gritty point.
Many of Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou’s squad have not been over the course and distance before and it would be understandable if nerves were becoming a factor.
But McGregor is adamant that is not the case and it was just a case of an irritating day in Leith.
He said: “Obviously, when you get a bad performance during the week and a bad result and you follow that up with a draw at the weekend, then, automatically, that’s what people will go to, that there’s nerves in the game, but that’s not the case.
“I think we did enough and the players have been fantastic.
“We have to trust ourselves and stay on the track that we are on.
“All we can do is focus on what we are doing. It wasn’t so long ago we were six points behind and you have to win and win.
“You can’t affect what goes on outside of your own building. All you can affect is what you are trying to do.
“Do the right things, try to get better and have calmness and an assurance that what we are doing is working.
“We didn’t get what we deserved out of this game.
“But there will be to and fro between now and the end of the season, I’m sure of it.
“There are still 10 games to go, so there’s three-quarters of the season done and the boys have been fantastic until now.
“So stay calm and be focused. Keep doing what we are doing and I think we’ll get there.
“You can only control what’s inside your building. If you start looking elsewhere, that’s maybe where the pressure comes.
“We can only concentrate on our training and matches.
“Whether you are six points behind, three points in front or one point in front or whatever, it doesn’t make a difference.
“Everyone plays the same amount of games come the end of the season, so the chances will tell you if you win the majority of your games, you’ll win the league.
“That’s all we can focus on. Not any other result, someone doing us a favour, anything like that. It’s purely down to what we do.”
Celtic did not have their normal thrust as they failed to find a winner.
Liel Abada missed one chance and saw a second effort late in the contest saved by home keeper Matt Macey.
But McGregor didn’t feel it was a lacklustre show as he continued: “I thought we were like ourselves and did enough to win. I don’t see tiredness within the group.
“The manager has chopped and changed recently, which should help us going into the latter part of
the season.
“We did the things the manager asked us to and sometimes it just doesn’t fall for you. You have to try and not overthink it as well. The boys have been excellent so far.
“A lot of them have put in a lot of good performances over the piece, so we stay calm and trust the process.
“If you play like that most weeks, you’ll come out with enough points.
“I don’t think we need to come too far away from the structure the manager is asking us to do.
“There is, obviously, some fine-tuning in that. Can you move slightly differently? Pass it a bit quicker?
“But the reason teams are changing is because we have been so effective. We are now dominating games to the point where teams are completely changing their tactics against us. That’s a positive in itself.
“We just need to fine-tune the little bits and be clinical when we get in there.
“The group has done ever so well to get us to this position, so we have to stay calm and trust each other, trust the process and what the manager is asking us to do.
“I think there was enough in the game, chances, possession control, we limited them to very little in the game as well.
“Sometimes in football, it has a funny way that you don’t get what you deserve out of a game, so we have to accept that and accept the result is not what we wanted.
“But if we produce performances like that and chances like that, over the piece we’ll do enough.”
McGregor, meanwhile, dismissed any notion the setback was down to their European travel. Boss Postecoglou left some key stars out against Norway’s Bodo/Glimt, but the captain said: “Football nowadays is every three or four days, the players are used to that.
“We do not want to detract. We have done it season after season. Most of the boys have done it throughout their careers.
“Of course it is a challenge when you fly back, but that’s the challenge. You have to live your life properly and be ready every time you go on the pitch.
“It is a factor, but we understand it is part of the game now.”
