Celtic recalibrate after hard week as Greg Taylor reveals his Christmas dinner - 'but no wine'

Given the poisonous scenes of the previous Saturday, when Hearts defeated them 2-0 at Celtic Park to leave frothing fans pointing fingers at manager Brendan Rodgers and calling for the board to be sacked, Brendan Rodgers and Co could simply not afford another slip-up. The mood of supporters has not been helped by Rangers’ resurgence under Philippe Clement to re-ignite the title race but also snare the first piece of domestic silverware in the Viaplay Cup. The gap between leaders Celtic and second-placed Rangers is just two points.

Overcoming Livingston, clearly right now the poorest team in the league, is not enough to heal wounds but it at least allowed those of a Celtic persuasion to enjoy Christmas. Not winning was an unthinkable prospect. The next three matches will have a far greater bearing on how the quest to retain the Premiership crown looks going into the second half of the season, with the Boxing Day trip to Dundee followed by the visit of Rangers and then an away match against St Mirren. Nine points would go a long way to soothing the sores of earlier defeats this month.

Full-back Greg Taylor freely admits that Celtic’s Lennoxtown training base was a tough place to be after the Hearts defeat. "It was a hard week, but in these moments you have to stay calm and believe in what you are doing,” said Taylor. “You know at Celtic that one defeat is a disaster, never mind two. It really wasn't good enough, albeit the Champions League in the middle was a stronger performance. The two league games [defeats by Kilmarnock and Hearts] weren't up to our level and it was about trying to find that quickly against Livingston. There was a lot of forward running, good power, getting into the right areas.”

There is enough nous in the Celtic dressingroom not to allow panic or morale to slip. Taylor may only be 26 but he is one of the more experienced players in the squad alongside the senior leadership group such as veteran goalkeeper Joe Hart and captain Callum McGregor. Complacency is never an issue. “That’s the one thing that I wouldn’t say this group are guilty of, it’s a really professional group,” insisted Taylor. “Every day we are in and doing our work. You see the amount of boys doing their prep, doing the gym, they don’t lose focus. It’s just about maintaining standards I think, having that hunger and keeping doing the right things. Don’t come away from the plan. The manager and the coaching staff set a real clear plan in how they want us to play, so it’s important that all eleven of us and the subs that come on stick to that.”

Focus is a key word right now, given that the spectre of a gargantuan clash with Rangers looms after taking on Dundee. Then there is the added distraction of Christmas. “A hotel!" Taylor responded when asked what the big day looks like for him. “You train a bit later on Christmas Day so you can get the morning with your families and enjoy that with them, because they have a lot of sacrifice throughout the season. You’re away in a lot of hotels, and can be away at three games a week. So, as much as we are in such a privileged position as footballers, and I would never take it for granted because it’s an amazing honour to play at this club and play professional football as your living, but it is one of the days you try to give back to them because there is a lot of sacrifice for them. I will celebrate it on Christmas Eve because we are off. We’ll have the family up and enjoy it with them. They will probably do the eating and drinking instead of me, and then we’ll be in to train on Christmas Day and be ready to prep for Dundee.”

What does Christmas dinner look like for the Taylor family? “It’s pretty standard, prawn cocktail, soup, turkey, ham, all the numbers,” he smiled, before quickly adding: “Certainly no wine for me though, I’ll leave that for other people.”

If this version of Celtic has been far from vintage, then they will be helped in the second half of the season when midfielder Reo Hatate and forward Liel Abada return to the team. Both have sidelined by hamstring issues and while the is an outside chance they will be back before the winter shutdown, a more likely return is against Buckie Thistle in the Scottish Cup on January 21.

“I think notoriously we have been pretty strong after the break and had a real consistent run of results,” said Taylor. “Having the boys back – and I’m sure there will be additions in to drive the competition up and give the boys that are out there a helping hand – we’re looking forward to the boys coming back and the opportunity that brings.

“Reo gives us a real dynamism in the midfield, he’s go that ability to go past a player in midfield. Liel speaks for himself. He’s got so many goals at the back stick, he’s always there making good forward runs. So, yeah, that will strengthen the squad and give us a few more options.”

For now, though, the immediate goal is to take down a Dundee team that is purring along nicely under Tony Docherty and was given last Saturday off due to the late postponement of their home clash with Aberdeen. “It’s been a lot of games and we want to finish it with strong performances and positive results,” added Taylor. “That starts on Boxing Day against Dundee now.”