Celtic are gearing up for no common-or-garden cup tie - even if the non-believers won’t understand

Andrew H previews Sunday

Among the joys of following Celtic - underpinned by the favourable circumstances inherent in doing so, it should be acknowledged - is that the possibilities for different paths to success invariably open up.

To outsiders, the club’s incessant trophy-devouring in this era, which is undeniably assisted by unrivalled financial muscle, is framed only in terms of predictability, and mundanity even. When you are in the midst of it, though, the reality is entirely at odds with such perceptions. A case in point being Sunday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final at home to Hibs. The non-believers would seek to tell you there is nothing particularly out-of-the-ordinary about the latest hurdle for Brendan Rodgers’ men in their bid to snare the club the country’s oldest silverware for the seventh time in nine years. Oh, how they couldn’t be more wrong I would counter…as a supporter who has been excited about the tie for days (and I’m sure I’m far from in a select band among our faithful over that fact).

I would dare to suggest there hasn’t been a domestic cup occasion outside of Hampden in the past decade quite like the one that will be played out at the weekend. When was the last time that Celtic’s opposition for such a meeting could arrive with the taglines being attached to them that David Gray’s men have richly earned? Not only are they responsible for Hibs’ longest unbeaten top flight league run for 75 years - a 13 game stretch. Not only have they avoided loss in 15 consecutive games overall in not tasting defeat since they visited Celtic Park in earlier December. On an afternoon when the 3-0 outcome flattered Rodgers’ men. More than all that, Hibs pitch up to Glasgow’s east end fresh from beating Celtic, which in itself rarely happens. The fact they did so on their own patch only a fortnight ago gives further seasoning to a tie that appears an aromatic blend of spices.

In terms of the contest on the pitch, those factors offer lip-licking morsels. But another ingredient will also do so: the backdrop to it. According to reports, it is expected that Hibs could have a travelling support of around 7,000 fans. Such a backing for a visiting team hasn’t been witnessed at Celtic Park for seven years. The title-winning tousing handed out to Rangers in May 2018 that was a 5-0 going on 10-0 the game in question. An encounter that proved the last confrontation between the city rivals ahead of the Ibrox club electing to slash Celtic’s ticket allocation for derby hostings; which led to a response in kind. If Hibs punters do turn up in the numbers predicted, simply by dint of that fact then we will have ourselves anything but a common-or-garden home cup tie.

The Leith club are sure to feel they have some sort of chance to claim the win that, of course, would put the mockers on Celtic’s quest for a sixth treble in nine years. But our club racked up the previous five through being alive to the need to front up in the face of any potential threat, and doing so through keeping complacency at arm’s length. Hibs will point to the fact that it wasn’t so long ago a team came to Celtic Park for a much-anticipated Scottish Cup skirmish and claimed the spoils. Aberdeen did just that in February 2014 with a weird 2-1 win - weird because it came after Neil Lennon’s team gave them the runaround for half an hour subsequent to taking a first half lead. For myriad reasons, that belongs to another age. One of them being the fact the confrontation attracted a mere 30,000 crowd, with no requirement to open the top tiers at Celtic Park. Unthinkable now, as is a similar outcome, even if Rodgers’ side will have to guard against it.