Celtic v St Mirren – Callum McGregor warns teammates ahead Hampden return

In partnership with

The Celtic Star

·17 April 2026

Celtic v St Mirren – Callum McGregor warns teammates ahead Hampden return

Callum McGregor has delivered a warning ahead of Celtic’s Scottish Cup semi-final with St Mirren, insisting the Hoops will produce a far better performance than in their previous meeting at Hampden in December…

The Buddies claimed the first silverware of the season with an emphatic 3-1 win at the National Stadium, 11 days after Wilfried Nancy’s appointment.

Results got worse under the Frenchman, but fortunes have since turned, with Martin O’Neill overseeing a more consistent run of victories.

OneFootball Videos

McGregor admitted the team fell well below expectations in the Premier Sports League Cup final and emphasised that a significant improvement will be required when they return to Hampden on Sunday.

Speaking via Celtic TV, CalMac said: “When you arrive on these big days it’s trying to come off the pitch with no regret and knowing that you gave everything to get a result. So we for sure have to give a better account of ourselves compared to what we did that day. But we arrive into these semi-finals with big experience and good experiences behind us.”

“Hopefully we can draw on that and then ultimately you have to perform, you have to match everything that’s in there and we have to give more if we want to be the team that are in the final.”

“We are where we are, and everyone’s supercharged, super emotional, and everybody wants the perfect performance all the time. Obviously that’s what we strive to do Monday to Friday and then obviously the game on the Saturday, you try and do everything that you’ve been asked to do.”

Callum McGregor ahead of the match. Scottish Cup quarter final on Sunday 8 March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

The Hoops skipper added: “But credit to St Mirren, they’ve obviously changed the manager, slightly different identity in the way that they want to play and the way that they get numbers round the ball, it was difficult at times.”

“But something that we obviously very quickly have to get to grips with for the weekend’s game. It’s always good to see different challenges in the game and different teams posing you different threats.”

“When the game changes like that sometimes it’s hard to then re-grip control in the game but the positive is a lot of big points this season where the team have been resilient and managed to dig out results.”

“It was another one at the weekend and it’s about getting results. While we want performances to always improve and we will improve, then the main thing is to win the games.”

Conor Spence

Post your own thoughts in the comments section below…

Quick Tip – Add thecelticstar.com as your ‘Preferred Source’ on Google News for quick access to the Celtic content you value the most. It takes just a few seconds and you’ll notice the difference straight away! – Click HERE….Hail Hail!

Click to join Celtic Pools