Dundee United defender Scott McMann is bracing himself for a Celtic whirlwind on Sunday.
The Hoops travel to Tannadice in fine form with only one defeat in 12 games in all competitions under boss Ange Postecoglou.
United battled to a 1-1 draw at Celtic Park in September where McMann felt the force of the Hoops’ high-tempo style and the 25-year-old, who signed from Hamilton in August, is expecting more of the same at Tannadice.
He said: “Their intensity and movement, that is the two things I would say about Celtic.
“As soon as the ball goes out of play there is one back in and the game barely stops.
“You don’t really get a moment to stop and think and breathe and that’s obviously what they want.
“It is difficult but every team brings their own challenges and that’s Celtic. They are flying right now and we know how difficult it is going to be.
“But we showed when we played at Parkhead that we can compete against them and we believe we can get a result at Tannadice.
“Obviously every game is different but we showed we can play good football against them as well as compete so we will look to do that again.”
United’s 1-0 defeat against Motherwell at Fir Park on Tuesday night left Tam Courts’ side with just one win in six matches and seven points behind second-placed Celtic.
However, after regularly fighting battles at the wrong end of the table during his time with Hamilton, where he came through the club’s youth system, McMann is not one to panic.
He said: “We have expectations the same as Hamilton do. They have expectations to stay in the league and we have expectations of top six or wherever we can go.
“There is pressure with both clubs but the relegation pressure isn’t enjoyable, that is tough.
“But there are a lot of games coming up and there’s no time to think about it, you just have to focus on the next game.
“Every team has their highs and lows in seasons and we have had a wee dip recently but we look to put that right.
“We look to bounce back from the result and performance on Tuesday and get a win on Sunday.”
