Celtic captain Callum McGregor says him and his teammates have to take accountability for Celtic’s poor start to the Premiership season.

The defending champions fell eight points behind Hearts yesterday, after the league leaders beat them 3-1 at Tynecastle.

And McGregor knows that the only way to claw at this gap is if the playing staff performing.

“I said it last week, but we are too easy to play against” the 32 year-old said after the loss.

“The players always have to take responsibility, I’ve been saying it since day one.

“Even with the distraction of the board, and the signings, and everything else, I’ve been the one saying ‘no’, the players have to take responsibility. The only guys that can fix it is the guys on the pitch.”

The former Scotland international believes that that the squad is capable of turning things around, but need to show their quality more regularly.

“I think they [the players] understand the situation that we are in, of course we are, but we have to turn that into action on the pitch.

“I see it on Thursday night, we were excellent, but we have to back it up three days later, and then another three days later we’ve got to do the same.

“So that’s where we are. We’re showing flashes, but not on a consistent enough basis.”

McGregor, who scored Celtic’s goal on Sunday, dismissed the idea that uproar of a lack of transfer activity could be negatively impacting the current crop of players.

“Being at a big club like Celtic, there’s always speculation of who’s coming in. Even the guys who did well last year, you’ve got to keep doing well, the guys who maybe didn’t do so well, you’ve got to up your level.

“There’s always a clamour to sign players at big clubs, and then it’s up to the players to react to that. Hopefully overtime, you push each other to new levels.”

The Celtic academy product was quick to defend fellow graduates Colby Donovan and Dane Murray, who both made starts due to injured absentees. Murray scored an own goal, and gave away the penalty for Hearts’ third.

“The young boys are exempt in this because they need help as well. So when young guys get chucked into the team, it’s the responsibility of the other players to protect them, because they need time to develop, time to get better, they need time to make mistakes.

“I’ve been there as a young player when I’ve made mistakes. You need your senior players around you to pick you back up, and they need time to learn and develop into what could be really good Celtic players.”

The midfielder recognised Hearts at title challengers, as the maroon side aim to break a 40 year duopoly on the league from the Glasgow big two.

“We have to beat everyone if we’re going to win the league.

“Yes they [Hearts] were good today, they’re eight points clear of us and now we are the team that are chasing, so if they are the guys at the top then of course we have to try and chase them.”

Celtic now turn their attention to Falkirk at Celtic Park on Wednesday night, before a blockbuster Premier Sports Cup semi-final on Sunday against rangers at Hampden.