Jack Ross is looking for points rather than plaudits when he takes his Hibernian team to Celtic Park for the first time but he will set up to take the game to the champions.
Ross’ Alloa and St Mirren teams gave Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic side problems at Parkhead in cup quarter-finals in the 2016-17 season.
Alloa held out for 83 minutes in the League Cup in September 2016 before falling to a 2-0 defeat and might have caused a huge upset in Celtic’s unbeaten domestic season had Craig Gordon not controversially avoided a red card for a high challenge on Greig Spence.
After Ross moved to Paisley, Rodgers described St Mirren as the best domestic side Celtic had faced that season following the Hoops’ come-from-behind win in the Scottish Cup.
Ross said: “I have lost both games though, so would I rather have had positive results and maybe not had plaudits? Perhaps.
“But it depends what you have got at your disposal. I went there in different circumstances but particularly the St Mirren team I went with, we had a good attacking threat.
“I have got that within this squad and it’s how we have set up in the games we have had to date.
“It would be remiss of me as a manager to try and play in a positive way if I didn’t have the players that suited, but I have got a squad that suits playing that way, irrespective of the opposition and the venue.
“That’s what we will try and do on Sunday. That’s not being blase about it because it’s not easy to do, because you have got to deal with the other part of the game properly as well against a really good team.
“But if we can get that right then we believe we have enough of a threat in forward areas to do that as well.”
The cup ties led to Rodgers inviting Ross to Celtic’s Lennoxtown training complex after the current Leicester manager had been impressed with the way his counterpart set up his teams.
“I was up on a couple of occasions watching them train and spending some time with Brendan, then I was up later on after that for a coffee with him and some general career advice,” the former Sunderland manager said.
“He was really good to me when he was in Scotland, helpful to me as a coach and a manager. It’s no surprise to me, having seen him work up closely, to see the success he is enjoying back in England. He was a big help to me.”
