![\"Luke](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_Luke-McCowan.jpg\")
Luke McCowan and Wilfried Nancy(Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\nBack-to-back wins have got the Hoops on track but there’s plenty of work to be done insists McCowan.Luke McCowan and Wilfried Nancy(Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n
Luke McCowan admits Celtic<\/a> must find a way to plug their leaky defence – because they can\u2019t always rely on outscoring teams.<\/p>\n The Hoops midfielder has urged his teammates not to pass up the chance to draw level with Hearts<\/a> at the top when they visit Motherwell on Tuesday night.<\/a> That would be the perfect preparation for Saturday\u2019s second Old Firm clash of the season at Parkhead.<\/p>\n But McCowan<\/a> knows Wilfried Nancy<\/a>\u2019s side need to tighten up at the back after shipping 13 goals in six games under the new boss.<\/p>\n Back-to-back league wins combined with the Jambos losing the Edinburgh derby on Saturday has opened the door for Celtic to catch the leaders.<\/p>\n But against a Well side that has conceded just once in their last six games the Hoops will need to be on their game at both ends of the park after conceding two to rock bottom Livingston in Saturday\u2019s 4-2 win.<\/p>\n McCowan is adamant the Hoops are on the right path under Nancy even if it seemed like \u201cthe end of the world\u201d when the Frenchman lost his first four games in charge.<\/p>\n But the 28-year-old also knows they can\u2019t afford to allow the good work being done at one end of the park to be undone by sloppiness at the other.<\/p>\n Asked if the goals against tally was becoming a worry, he said: \u201cIt\u2019s not a concern if you go and outscore teams. But you don\u2019t want that to always be the case.<\/p>\n \u201cYou want to be as solid as you can. We need to gel together and make sure it doesn\u2019t happen as much as it has been. We have been conceding more goals than we are used to and we need to get on top of that. We need to get on the training pitch, figure out what the problem is and get together.\u201d<\/p>\n Jens Berthel Askou\u2019s Steelmen will provide a huge test of the Hoops\u2019 mettle on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n Well were unfortunate to lose the previous meeting of the sides 3-2 at Parkhead having led 2-1 after 70 minutes. That was one of only three defeats they\u2019ve suffered in the league this season.<\/p>\n But the Hoops have the carrot of catching leaders Hearts as extra motivation.<\/p>\n And, asked how important it is to not pass up the chance to draw level, McCowan said: \u201cWe can\u2019t. December and January are when the most important games are in the league.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know the next performance has to be big against a good Motherwell side, who have been in form. We need to keep on top of this and keep fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n Pick up three points in Lanarkshire and the Hoops will be nicely poised ahead of the visit of Rangers.<\/p>\n But McCowan isn\u2019t looking that far ahead.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cI am 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 and \u2018Hearts are on top\u2019 and whatever.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Back-to-back wins have got the Hoops on track but there’s plenty of work to be done insists McCowan.Luke…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[2817,218,23925,8058,11728,101,56,54,55,106896],"class_list":["post-340568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-celtic-fc","tag-football","tag-luke-mccowan","tag-scottish-premiership","tag-scottish-professional-football-league","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wilfried-nancy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Livingston](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766992090_221_0_Livingston-v-Celtic-William-Hill-Premiership.jpg\")
Livingston put two past Celtic(Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n