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Callum McGregor credits Scotland penalty exploits for cup final success

The Hoops beat Hearts on penalties in the Scottish Cup final to complete a quadruple treble.

Callum McGregor believes his experience in Scotland's victorious penalty shoot-outs helped in Celtic's dramatic William Hill Scottish Cup final win over Hearts on Sunday.

The Hoops midfielder scored his penalties in shoot-out wins over Israel in October and Serbia in November which took the Scots into next summer's European Championship.

He also scored from the spot in the 3-2 Europa League win over Lille earlier in the month and he was among the five Celtic volunteers after a thrilling final at Hampden Park ended 3-3 after extra time.

Again McGregor netted and two saves from Conor Hazard, playing only his third game for the Parkhead club, ultimately allowed Kristoffer AjerΒ to smash in the winner to secure an unprecedented quadruple treble and take the trophy back to the east end of Glasgow for the 40th time.

Asked if the Scotland penalty shoot-outs had helped him when stepping up to face Jambos keeper Craig Gordon, he told the William Hill Scottish Cup Twitter account: "Yes, I think so.

"When you take them regularly you get a feel for it.

"They are always pressure moments, in penalty shoot-outs there is no room for error. You just have to trust your technique and hope for the best and I'm thankful it went in.

Callum McGregor scores in Scotland's shoot-out against Israel
Callum McGregor built up his penalty shoot-out experience on international duty (Andrew Milligan/PA)

"Obviously it was a really tense day. Performance-wise, the first half was excellent.

"The second half we came off it and gave Hearts the chance to get back into the game.

"Cup finals are always edgy but the main thing was we got the trophy and finished off the quadruple treble."

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Celtic manager Neil Lennon pictured on August 22, 2020
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Celtic109102932628
2Aberdeen109102091128
3RangersRangers10613158719
4Motherwell105141313016
5Dundee UnitedDundee Utd104331412215
6Kilmarnock103341320-712
7St Mirren113261521-611
8Ross County112541018-811
9St Johnstone113171423-910
10Dundee102351418-49
11Hibernian10145915-67
12Hearts111371218-66


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