NIR BITTON says the drive that's taken Celtic crashing through the 60-game unbeaten barrier is the burning desire to 'be the best'.
You need to go back to May last year for the last domestic defeat for the Parkhead club, and the Israeli has offered an insight into the mindset behind the momentous run.
He said: “it’s just being the best.
“To reach that level is difficult, but to stay there is even more difficult. That’s what we want to show everyone, it’s not finished. We want to keep going, keep winning and stretch that unbeaten run.
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“You never know. We will lose at some point. We’ll take every game with 100 per cent concentration and try to play our game.
“People need to understand we have a busy schedule. Most of the guys played on Wednesday, came home late. People didn’t sleep.
“The most important thing is we won, we go to the final and we’ll keep pushing."
Celtic's next test is a trip to high-flying Aberdeen on Wednesday night, the side who they are currently tied with at the top of the Premiership. Is there a chance the run will stop at 60 at Pittodrie?
“If you look at the results and the table over the last few seasons you’ll see they finished second, but every game is big for us," said Bitton, who played at centre-half in Saturday's 4-2 Betfred Cup win over Hibernian.
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“Everyone wants to beat us. Everyone wants to give 100 per cent against us, and every team wants to be the one to end this unbeaten run.
“We don’t want it to happen but we’ll try our best on Wednesday."
With Aberdeen leading the charge of Celtic's competition, it begs the question is the upcoming fixture even bigger than facing Rangers.
“Every game is big for us," said the ever diplomatic Bitton.
“Rangers is of course a big game for the fans, for the newspapers, for the guys outside. But for us it’s the same. You go out on the pitch and you try to win.
“At the end of the day it’s a game of football, and every game is the same game.”
Bitton has found game time in the Celtic midfield hard to come by in recent months with a fair chunk of his minutes coming as a makeshift centre-half.
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This was the case again in Saturday's 4-2 victory.
It wasn't a flawless performance with him getting caught square on for Oliver Shaw to grab Hibs' second to make it 3-2, but the Israeli admits he's keen to learn and develop into the role.
He said: "I’m trying to do my best. I played most of the games this season at centre-back so I try and learn the position, try to do my best. As long as we are winning I don’t care.
“It’s not my preferred role but as I say I’ve played most of my games there. I’m trying to learn from Dedryck [Boyata] and Jozo [Simunovic] or whoever I play with. I’m just trying to do my best and I’m happy with the win.
“To be honest, centre-back is just about being smart. It’s another position. Sometimes it’s easier, sometimes it’s more difficult.
“Maybe the second goal against Hibs I could do better but during the game it sometimes happens quickly and you lose the striker, but I’ll learn."
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