Ross County have made a habit of upsetting Celtic. Manager Jim McIntyre wants that to continue in Dingwall tonight.
Caley Thistle are the only Scottish side to have taken a point off the Hoops this season, but the Dingwall club’s track record of inflicting blows on the Parkhead club, both home and away, was already a trait before McIntyre arrived in September 2014 and has continued since.
The most recent success came when Stewart Murdoch’s second-half goal cancelled out a Leigh Griffiths opener at Parkhead in April.
In January, goals from Martin Woods, Paul Quinn and Alex Schalk swept away the champions in a League Cup semi-final triumph that sent County on the road to Hampden success.
There have been other landmark moments for the Staggies against Celtic down the years, as well as hefty beatings and McIntyre is under no illusions as to how far the Parkhead club has come in a short time under Brendan Rodgers.
The County manager said: “What the Caley Thistle result did show is, on any given day, teams are capable of picking up points against Celtic, whether it is three or one.
“That’s certainly the belief we’ll carry into the match. We’ll go into it with a plan we believe can get us a result. We’ll see if that is good enough. But there will certainly be a belief about us having done well in big games against them last season.”
McIntyre is striving to set County back on a more productive trail amid an uncharacteristic goal drought which has contributed to a run of seven games without victory.
The manager added: “Celtic are flying at the moment and playing with a real confidence. It’s clear in their results and performances they have taken it up a level from last season.
“Any time we play the Old Firm we know we’re going to have to have our A game. I was at the Old Firm game on Sunday and Celtic were terrific. They have so many options so I expect them to freshen their team.
“But it is like for like quality coming in. Our goalkeeper is going to have to make saves at some stage and we’re going to have to defend well. But we want to make sure we’re threatening their goal as well.”