A 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford last month left the Scottish champions on one point after three games and means a UEFA Cup spot is probably the best they can hope for this season after qualifying for the knockout stages in the previous two years.

Celtic faced United at Parkhead two seasons ago at the same stage of the competition where a Shunsuke Nakamura free-kick gave them an unlikely win and a last-16 spot, but after their recent comprehensive win in Manchester, the Red Devils are strong favourites to complete the double over the Glasgow giants.

However, the Celtic boss looked relaxed ahead of the game and when asked what lay ahead for his side, he replied: "Good fun, I'm looking forward to another exciting evening.

"It's another challenge, another dream and, yes, it should be good fun.

"We have to perform first, have a wee bit of luck, have some decisions going for us, with players playing at their maximum and the result takes care of itself."

United's win, decisive as it was in terms of possession, was helped by two goals from Dimitar Berbatov which both looked offside.

Strachan, though, played down any suggestions of bad luck in the first game and looked forward to another "magical" European night at Celtic Park.

He said: "Offside goals can happen, we didn't make a big song and dance of it and the better team won.

"But the better team doesn't always win.

"So hopefully we put the same amount of effort in again and try and put some pressure on Manchester United and get the breaks.

"European nights are fantastic at Celtic Park.

"Whatever happens in our careers as managers and coaches, it will not get any better than European nights here.

"This is a magical place and throughout the generations we have managed to create memories for the fans and there have been some special, special nights here that I will never forget and I'm sure the players feel the same way.

"But no matter what, nothing will match the game against Spartak Moscow and the sight of Tommy Burns flying over bodies at the end.

"Can we do it tomorrow? Yes, we can do but we can also get beat, everybody knows that.

"But it will be a special occasion."

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Strachan does not believe an overly-aggressive approach is the way to unsettle the Champions League holders.

"What does more aggression mean?" he said. "You can't kick lumps out of each other and quite rightly so.

"It's not like 40 years ago when Celtic played Leeds United, when you could kick 10 bells out of each other.

"You can't get away with that these days, fortunately they have brought some civilised rules in since then.

"We have to be careful with our passing, we have to get close to their players and when we get the ball we have to give them a problem.

"There has to be special moments from some of our players to score, unless we get a freak goal."