GARY CALDWELL today insisted Celtic are ready to go the distance in the fierce battle to secure a fourth successive SPL championship.

The Parkhead club surrendered pole position to Old Firm rivals Rangers for the first time in four months after they were held to a 1-1 draw at Motherwell yesterday.

Celtic and Rangers are now locked on 57 points at the top - but the Ibrox men are ahead with a plus 10 goal difference - with a dozen league games to go.

Strachan's side are now bracing themselves for a title dog-fight after being eight points clear at the start of January.

But Caldwell says the Parkhead players are more than up for the battle with the Old Firm also set to collide in the League Cup Final at Hampden on March 15. He said: "We knew we had to win to stay in front and we've got a title race on now. We have to pick ourselves up and be ready for it.

"It's never over. It was proved last year that a big lead is never enough. This year we will have to keep plugging away and keep battling and I'm sure we will be there at the end."

Caldwell, who was moved from defence into a midfield role yesterday, felt Celtic put enough into the 90 minutes to merit leaving with all three points.

The visitors passed up several chances during the first-half but finally broke the deadlock thanks to a Scott McDonald strike. But a late equaliser from Paul Quinn denied Celtic all three points.

And Caldwell added: "We are disappointed. We controlled the game for long spells and had some great chances in the first-half and got our noses in front in the second so we are all bitterly disappointed not to have won the match."

Celtic, of course, weren't helped by the state of the Fir Park surface which resembled a beach more than it did a football pitch.

However, Caldwell wasn't using that as an excuse for his side's failure to win over the weekend - and actually thought his team-mates managed to perform well on it under difficult circumstances.

He added: "I don't imagine it was a great game to watch in terms of attractive football.

"There were times when it was end to end and people were just clearing their lines but I thought we tried at times to pass on a pitch that wasn't really conducive to that. We played some good stuff considering."

Those views were backed up by Glenn Loovens, who replaced Caldwell at the heart of the Celtic defence. When asked if he had ever seen a pitch like that before, he replied: "I've played at Hampden Park.

"Obviously it wasn't the best but it was the same for both teams. We are just really disappointed at not winning the game." RUN TO THE SPLIT . . .

CELTIC St Mirren (h) Kilmarnock (a) Dundee Utd (a) Hamilton (h) Falkirk (h) Hearts (a) Aberdeen (h) RANGERS Hamilton (a) Inverness (h) Hearts (h) Falkirk (a) Motherwell (h) Hibs (a) St Mirren (a)