Hoops hero Jota insists the Parkhead men won’t sleepwalk over the Premiership finishing line – because Ange Postecoglou won’t allow any napping on the job.
Celtic fans are in dreamland after their side blasted 12 points clear in the league with just seven gamed to go on the back of Saturday’s epic 3-2 Old Firm win. The Hoops have a huge goal difference and are just three wins from retaining the title – but no one at Parkhead are declaring the deal done just yet. Jota – who pounced on a John Souttar slip up to grab the crucial third goal against Gers – said: “Absolutely not. There are still a lot of games to play and we just focus on every week.
“We know our football works but we can’t sleep on it. The manager would never allow that to happen. That’s the good thing. We have to keep working hard. He wants us to be better versions of ourselves as footballers. They way we have developed over the two years since he came in is unbelievable. It you evaluate where we were then and where we are now – we are completely different.
“We are more complete players – who can deliver game after game. That is what we aim for. I was very, very happy with the result. It was an amazing shift from the lads.
“It was something we have been working towards since the first day and I am just grateful to be part of this team and this amazing football club. Now we go on.”
Hoops captain Callum McGregor echoed the winger’s call for calm – but he admitted the three points were massive in the context of the season. The playmaker will ram home the message to the group in the coming week as he is determined to maintain momentum until both hands are on the Premiership trophy.
He said: “It’s obviously a big win for us. We’re now 12 points clear and starting to run out of games.
“It was a big game, we knew the consequence of it and we’ve come out on the right side of it which has put us in a good position. But the beauty of this team is that nothing is won yet.
“We still have games to go and next Sunday becomes the biggest game of the season for us. That’s what professional football is about.”
McGregor savoured his latest Old Firm win in his 31st appearance in the encounter. But he insisted the victory will be for nothing if Celtic leave the door again at Kilmarnock this weekend.
McGregor said: “There is no point in winning on Saturday there and then going out in the next game and not winning. That would only undo all our good work. So we have to follow up that good win with another one, and another one, and that’s how you become successful.
“That’s the beauty of this group because they’re always focused and they never want to take a step back and have a look at what they’ve achieved. They want to keep going and achieve more.”
Hoops boss Postecoglou is refusing to put up the bunting just yet but he hailed his side for finding a way to dig out a monumental result in the context of the Premiership campaign. He said: “It was obviously a game of great significance for a number of reasons and credit to the players, they found a way to get the result we needed. The game had a bit of everything.
“We had our moments and they were threatening from set-pieces, and causing us some problems, but with this group of players they’ll always find a way.”
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