Luke McCowan has warned league leaders Hearts that Celtic now have them firmly in their sights after securing back-to-back wins for the first time under new manager Wilfried Nancy.
The defending champions were 4-2 winners at Livingston on Saturday and moved to within three points of the Tynecastle men, who lost to Edinburgh rivals Hibernian earlier in the day.
Celtic travel to Motherwell on Tuesday evening knowing a victory would see them move level on points at the top of the table ahead of the second Old Firm Premiership derby of the season at Parkhead this weekend.
‘We can’t (pass up this opportunity),’ said McCowan. ‘December and January are when the most important games are in the league.
‘We know the next performance has to be big against a good Motherwell side who have been in form.
‘I’m sorry to be robotic but every game you play for Celtic is pivotal. You have seen recently when we went through a bit of a bad run that it was like the end of the world.
Luke McCowan says Celtic can’t miss the opportunity to draw level with Hearts on Tuesday
Benjamin Nygren celebrates scoring Celtic’s first goal in their 4-2 victory over Livingston
Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy congratulates his players on securing a second successive win
‘We just need to stay on top of our performances, keep fighting and we will get there.
‘Of course it would be good to go into next weekend level on points at the top but we need to focus on the performances.’
Celtic were made to work for the win against Livi, with the teams sharing four goals between them in the first 10 minutes.
Benjamin Nygren fired the visitors in front shortly after the half-hour mark. Then Arne Engels slotted home a penalty before the interval to secure the three points.
McCowan said: ‘It was a game between two teams who were pretty open, if I’m being honest.
‘That wasn’t the start of the game that we wanted. We want to try to dominate as much as we can and we didn’t do that. However, it shows the spirit of the players that we fought back.
‘We have the quality in the team. Benji came up with that throughout the game, but we have that all over the pitch. We need to believe in that more.’
McCowan admits there is plenty to improve on defensively, but believes the team are moving in the right direction under Nancy after a shaky start to the new manager’s Celtic career.
‘(Conceding goals) is not a concern if you go and outscore teams,’ he said. ‘But you don’t want that to always be the case.
‘You want to be as solid as you can. We need to gel together and make sure it doesn’t happen as much as it has been.
‘Playing at Celtic is always risk and reward. We play like no other team in the league. We invite teams on and play a passing game, the percentages are higher on our side than they are on other teams.
‘That’s the risk and reward of it. If we lose the ball in areas of the pitch, the other team can be in your final third.
‘We know that’s the style but it’s about being solid when we have the ball offensively and make sure teams can’t counter.’
Against Livingston, McGowan lined up in an unfamiliar wing-back role for the second consecutive week, and the former Dundee man admits he is still getting to grips with the position.
‘It’s a battle, I’ll tell you that,’ he said. ‘They pinpointed me on that left side and put every header on me, which wasn’t great!
‘Listen, I’m starting and playing and that’s the most important thing. I just want to help the team and get the game-time I wanted.
‘We are winning and the boys are doing well, so I just want to keep doing it.’
