Celtic star in 'hostile' admission over Old Firm crowd situation - but admits ‘bigger’ away fan desire

Celtic star Callum McGregor revealed the team will be looking to use the “more hostile” atmosphere to their advantage in the derby against Rangers – but admitted he wants a return to a big away crowd.

There will be no visiting fans at Celtic Park for Saturday’s clash and the situation will be reversed for the final league fixture between the rivals at Ibrox. It was a decision taken on safety grounds following a spell where the allocation for travelling fans was cut drastically. It will likely be addressed ahead of next season.

McGregor hopes it will return to the point where “bigger [away] crowds in the stadium”. In the past, the visiting team have had upwards of a 7,000 allocation.

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"Hopefully as a spectacle we can get it back to where it was maybe a few years ago, where there was bigger [away] crowds in the stadium,” the Celtic captain said. "I think it just adds a little bit of something different. We have to accept it for the time being, but my thought is that hopefully we can get back to having the bigger allocation that we had a few years ago.

"Of course the place becomes more hostile, we'll be looking to use that to our advantage at the weekend. Hopefully we can harness that energy in the stadium and use it as a positive for us."

Celtic will be looking to take a big step towards retaining the Premiership title with three points over Rangers. It would see their lead increase to 12 points with 21 to play for.

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