Speaking ahead of the game, he said: “Even in that 9-0 game, we only scored our second goal in the 40^th minute if I remember correctly, so we had to work hard on that day too.

“We had to work hard to get our dominance and it will be no different this week.

'We’ve done that in every game where we go out there and try and put our authority on it, play our football and put the opposition under pressure home and away.'

“Sometimes it doesn’t yield results like that one but it doesn’t mean we’re not as dominant in other games.

“Dundee United under Liam has improved since then in their understanding of how they want to play and they look a lot more settled as a side.

“Since the break, they’ve come back a lot more consistent in their form and their results, so for us we know it’s a challenge, but we know we’ve been good and we want to continue that.”

There’s good news in the Celtic camp with more players returning from the treatment table, and the manager confirmed both Greg Taylor and Cameron Carter-Vickers are back for Tannadice.

“Greg Taylor has had a full week of training and Cameron Carter-Vickers is back with a full week of training, so they are good to go,” he said.

“Anthony Ralston is coming along and is the only one in rehab and training separately from the group but we’re confident he will be able to join in during the next week or so.”

Another defender who could be involved in the squad for Sunday is Bosun Lawal, who made his first-team debut in the Scottish Cup win over Greenock Morton last week.

The centre-half has since featured for the Celtic B team in their midweek draw away to Leicester City and the manager is pleased with the young defender's progress.

He added: “He’s been training with us for quite a while and developed well with us and that’s what earns the opportunity.

'He’s still got to work hard and there are some strong centre-halves in the building that he needs to get past, but we want to give him every opportunity to do that.'

“He’s still playing with the B team which is important. They had a game against Leicester and one against Blackburn Rovers next week and these are good games for him to show that he can dominate.

“Nothing is given. He’s the same with every player and he has to keep working at it but he’s got himself in a good space and he needs to keep pushing on.”

Manager: We need to work hard for three points against Dundee United