What put Matt O'Riley off his big Celtic-Rangers penalty as Callum McGregor lifts lid on his dressing-room wisdom

Of course, those players are right. Arithmetically, Celtic are not champions, but leading Rangers by six points with two games remaining and a superior goal difference of seven, they are so nearly there. Matt O'Riley's opener and an own goal from John Lundstram set them on their way on a gloriously hot day in the east end of Glasgow. A Cyriel Dessers effort and a missed penalty from O'Riley turned up the heat a little after Lundstram was sent off, but Celtic survived and basked in the sunshine in front of their fans afterwards.

“Mathematically we understand where we are now,” said captain McGregor, who was excellent in midfield. “Two games to go, six points clear but nothing is won yet. We have two difficult games to go, Rugby Park is a difficult place to go. We lost there earlier in the season so we understand how hard that is going to be.

“We have got to rest and recover and then we give everything we have there. First half we were excellent, second half we started really well against ten men in terms of pinning them in. We got the penalty and should probably put the game to bed at that point. That is football, things are never perfect. The momentum of the game probably switches a little bit at that point. There was a little bit of tension in the stadium at that point which is normal.

“You are going for a league title and it means so much to everybody so the momentum of the game changes. I spoke to the lads in the changing room and the way we handled that and dug in and fought, making blocks, making tackles in that last ten, 15 minutes was outstanding and such a vital ingredient if you are going to be successful as a team.”

Kilmarnock is the destination on Wednesday against a team that has turned them over twice in Ayrshire this season. Celtic are in a much better place now, though. “It was nice,” O'Riley said of overcoming Rangers. “A lot of the time it feels like relief to be honest as well because, you’re not there yet, but you’ve put yourself in a very good position to finish it off hopefully. It was nice to see everyone smiling. It was good weather as well so it was a good day.”

O'Riley and McGregor were two of the best players on the pitch. The Dane swept the ball home on 35 minutes to finally break through after coming close with two efforts. He could have added to his tally early in the second half when he was fouled by Mohamed Diomande and a penalty was awarded. After a long VAR check that referee Willie Collum ultimately dismissed, O'Riley stepped up but his effort was too central and Jack Butland saved. Had it gone in, Rangers may well have been toast. As it was, they rallied and ensured a nervy end to proceedings, even with a man down.

“It wasn’t the run up that I practiced yesterday,” revealed O'Riley. "For whatever reason, I got stuck in two minds. That’s something I can obviously learn from as well. Hopefully next time I can put that right. I was really confused to be honest because I thought it was really obvious the penalty. I got clipped and I thought it was really obvious. I don’t know if VAR tried to overturn it but I thought it was quite strange. There are no excuses when you miss a penalty. But of course it's quite a long wait.”

O'Riley was asked what the key was to making sure they got the job done. “We scored more goals than them," he smiled. "We were just really intense from the start, I think. The press was really good and we took our chances in the first half well. We still need to get better at managing a game and that also comes from taking our chances in the second half. These are games where you need to win. And we did. That was the main thing.

“You obviously represent Celtic and you know the weight that comes with that. It’s a massive club which means a lot to so many people. I personally try not to look at it as a weight. I try to look at it more from an enjoyment perspective. You can bring a lot of love and joy into people’s lives if things go well especially. We try to express ourselves on the pitch and that usually makes people smile. I think today was the perfect day for that.”

It's on to Wednesday now. A positive result and it really will be perfect. And then the Scottish Cup final. on May 25, comes into view. Celtic face Rangers once more. “I think the confidence is there for sure," O'Riley said of the upcoming date at Hampden. "I don’t think you can look back at games too much and take them with you because every one poses different challenges. When it comes to that game, we’ll study them like we always do and go into it with a really open mind. If you hold onto past results too much it can be a little bit of a distraction. We’ll just approach it as a new game.”