Celtic captain Callum McGregor insists he will be fuelled by a fear of failure in Saturday’s Scottish Cup final against Rangers.

Looking to secure a league and cup Double, Celtic will start as strong favourites at Hampden against an Ibrox side ravaged by injuries.

Rangers haven’t beaten Celtic in three attempts under Philippe Clement this season, but Parkhead skipper McGregor believes form counts for nothing in a one-off final.

‘Yeah, absolutely — I always go back to the ones (trophies) that I missed, and those are the ones that stick with you longer than the ones you have won,’ he said. ‘The ones that you lose hurt more and you remember them.

‘You try to limit the amount of times you feel like that throughout your career. When those moments come, you prepare yourself and, when you get out of bed that morning, you think: “Next time I go to bed, I want to be a winner again”. That is the way I approach these things.

‘I think you have to be like that, and especially with the club that we are at, it demands success.

‘It’s always a moving target. You have to keep moving, if you don’t and you stand still, someone will come and take it from you.

‘In elite sport you always have to be looking for the next challenge — and pretty much five minutes after lifting the trophy last Saturday, all I could think about was this game.

‘But that’s good, that has stood me in good stead. I’ve still got that hunger to continue to win, and everything that is in front of me, I want to win it.’

McGregor has yet to lose a Hampden final throughout a Celtic career which has seen him rack up 21 major honours.

In his three seasons as captain, he has won six trophies from a possible eight thus far — and believes he is building on the foundations left behind by predecessor Scott Brown.

Asked about his own Hampden record in finals, the Scotland midfielder said: ‘Don’t say it! Listen, I know it’s going to come to an end at some point, but every time we reach one…

‘We set out the targets at the start of the season and I like to think of myself as someone who wants to win everything they go into. I’ll be preparing the same way I always do, and hopefully when the moment comes, we’ll grab it and we will be successful.

‘It’s been a great period of success. Just personally being involved in that, it gives you a great understanding of what it takes to be successful.

‘The four Trebles that we did, how to manage pressure in situations and things like that. All of that is great, and great to have that experience, but we know come Saturday when the game kicks off it won’t count for much.’

Celtic have dominated Rangers in the league this season, with Brendan Rodgers’ side taking three wins and a draw from the four games across the campaign.

Rangers were also hindered by the fact they had two players sent off in two of those matches.

Leon Balogun was dismissed in the game at Parkhead at the turn of the year as Celtic won 2-1, while John Lundstram was also shown a red card as Celtic won by the same score a fortnight ago.

McGregor admits there is an extra emotional edge to these games, especially with Hampden set to see a 50-50 split in terms of supporters.

The atmosphere will be red-hot, but the Celtic skipper stressed the importance of keeping a cool head.

‘It’s everything, it’s cup final day, everybody’s emotions are through the roof. There’s VAR, there’s a 50-50 split with supporters, there’s a lot that comes into these days,’ he said.

‘Of course you feel it. The longer you are at the club, you feel it and you feel the importance of these games.

‘With the supporters, it’s hard to get away from it in the lead-up to these games. You go and pick up a coffee and it’s all that anyone is talking about, or you go into petrol stations and everything else.

‘So, of course, you feel the magnitude of the game and what it means to the supporters, but that is what fuels us in terms of trying not to let them down and trying not to let ourselves down or the club down.’