GREG TAYLOR insists Celtic have the know-how to overcome the obstacles as they zero in on their twelfth championship in 13 years.
The champions have taken flak this season for some uncharacteristic performances that came to a head in bewildering back-to-back losses against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park and Hearts at Parkhead before the turn of the year.
The alarming losses saw the Hoops carelessly shed six points that led to the team finding themselves two behind Philippe Clement’s Ibrox side, but the players have responded since then and embarked upon a 12-game unbeaten sequence with the only blemishes being draws against Aberdeen and Killie.
THREE CHEERS…Adam Idah and Matt O’Riley congratulate Greg Taylor after scoring the fifth goal in the 7-1 rout of Dundee at Parkhead in midweek.
The second-half revival against Motherwell when the team roared back to win 3-1 after trailing at the interval and the 7-1 romp against devastated Dundee in Glasgow in midweek have added fresh and much-required momentum to the team at a vitally important stage of the crusade.
Taylor, who scored against the Dens Parkers and set up goals for Adam Idah in the last two outings, is now preparing for tomorrow afternoon’s match against Hearts at Tynecastle and said: “The last couple of years have been a really successful time.
“It’s changed a bit this year, but you still have a core of players in there who know what success means and what it takes and I hope it carries us.
“Goals and assists are something I always want to add to my game.
“Throughout the season there have been good chances created from all of us and at times we have not taken them, but scoring that amount of goals the other night was nice.
“Against Dundee, it was a big performance and win and we took the second-half from Motherwell into the game. Hopefully, we can build from there.
“We don’t look too far ahead and we want to try and reach a similar level of performance tomorrow, if not better.
BY THE LEFT…Greg Taylor crashes in the final goal in Celtic’s 3-0 league win over St Mirren in Paisley in the first game of 2024.
“It doesn’t always end up in a result like that, but we judge ourselves on reaching a similar level of performance and then the results will take care of themselves.”
The Scotland international left-back, speaking to Celtic TV, continued: “The group inside the building are very together and we believe in what we do here. Hopefully, that will stand us in good stead and it showed on Wednesday.
“When you’ve got 10 league games to go, you know it’s the business end of the season.
“Right now, we just try and look at Hearts because it’s the next game and the most important.”
Reflecting on the ferocious first-half salvo against the demoralised Dens Parkers, Taylor added: “It was bouncing at half-time going in at 6-0 and the fans were in good voice.
“That will be vital. I say about us being all together in the building, but I include the fans in that and when you’ve got 60,000 behind you it does help.
“It’s limited numbers at Tynecastle, but I’m sure the Celtic fans as they always do will find their voice and, hopefully, we can deliver the performance that helps them do that.”
