Callum McGregor admitted Celtic “must eat humble pie” following their damaging 2-0 defeat to Dundee United yesterday afternoon…
Callum McGregor at Tannadice. Dundee Utd v Celtic. Sunday 22 March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou
The Hoops skipper was unable to inspire a turnaround at Tannadice, where strikes from Will Ferry and Emmanuel Agyei secured a shock victory for the hosts.
The result marked Celtic’s eighth defeat of the campaign – their highest tally since the 1999/2000 season – and McGregor acknowledged that such form will not be enough to secure the title come the end of May.
Speaking via Sky Sports, McGregor said: “Yeah obviously it was a tough game and a tough result, not what we wanted. And sometimes you’ve got to eat humble pie.”
“You want to come here and win but if we’re honest we probably didn’t do enough in the game in creating chances and we lose a couple of poor goals, the game gets away from you. You have to accept we didn’t do enough and that’s on us. We have to go away now, reflect and see what we can do better. We know how important the next seven games are.”
Callum McGregor and Viljami Sinisalo at Tannadice. Dundee Utd v Celtic. Sunday 22 March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou
“Why didn’t it click? You see the conditions, the pitch is difficult especially the way we want to play the game, so you have to take that into consideration. We don’t want to make an excuse of it but it definitely does play a part.”
“Then you think can we be a bit more direct and take the pitch out of the game a bit, but we didn’t do enough. It was one of the days under Martin and Shaun where we’ve not been at it and we have to accept that as well.”
McGregor added: “The team have done really well across their two spells but today was an off day. Maybe too many carrying an off day and that’s what happens. We have to move on and see how we can be better for the run-in.”
Will Ferry of Dundee United scores his team’s first goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Dundee United and Celtic at Tannadice Park on March 22, 2026. (Photo by Zak Mauger/Getty Images)
“We have to stay calm. It’s an emotional time and we can see that but now’s the time for calm heads. We’ve been here before, we know what it takes and you have to be calm. I get it, it’s an emotional situation everyone’s in but you have to dissect the game and how we want to play, give solutions to that and it’s about the players carrying that out on matchdays.”
“We’ll have a wee break now but when we come back the full focus is on the next seven games and by no means are we out of it.”
Celtic are still to face both the Ibrox club and Hearts again before the season concludes in the split, fixtures McGregor believes could offer a chance to regain momentum and shift the title race in their favour.
However, the captain acknowledged the scale of the challenge ahead and stressed that turning things around will be far from straightforward.
Emmanuel Agyei of Dundee United scores his team’s second goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Dundee United and Celtic at Tannadice Park on March 22, 2026. (Photo by Zak Mauger/Getty Images)
He said: “I think over their two spells the players have responded really well. Today was an off day, you could see it, performance was poor. We have to now rectify that, we’re coming towards the end of the season and there’s a lot of big games to play.”
“Everyone’s got to play each other and there’s points there, so we have to make sure we do enough in our performance, the way we want to play the game. To make sure we go on a run now.”
🥧 “Sometimes you just have to eat humble pie”
Celtic captain Callum McGregor addresses the “off day” at Dundee United and says it’s time for “calm heads” heading into the final seven league games ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/PvMDGmb6oF
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) March 22, 2026
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