Shiels will look upon producing a spectacle against Celts as a win

Killie go into the game as huge underdogs as Celtic have won 21 of their previous 22 domestic games.

Shiels has been urging his players to enjoy their time in the limelight and express themselves at Hampden tomorrow.

The Northern Irishman said: “You always should play with an expression and do the good things in football – pass the football, dribble the football, positive movements and playing to win. If we can play football in a manner that makes it a better game, we have succeeded.”

Celtic’s 27-match unbeaten run against Scottish teams started in October at Rugby Park when they came from three down to secure a late and unlikely point.

Killie have beaten Rangers home and away this season and are unbeaten against Motherwell and Hearts and Shiels hope they can again flourish against one of Scotland’s top teams.

“Good pitches are key,” he said. “We need a surface to play on and we haven’t adapted very well to difficult surfaces and difficult opponents. They don’t have the same impetus to play in a certain way. We have been bullied too much this season.”

Shiels has looked back over DVDs of their 3-3 draw against Celtic but he accepts Neil Lennon’s team are now a more daunting proposition.

“That was a different Celtic team,” he said. “If you look at the likes of Scott Brown, who is the captain of the team, he was missing.”

Shiels looks set to gamble on the fitness of main striker Paul Heffernan, who had an anti-inflammatory injection on a groin injury on Tuesday.

• LAST night’s match between Livingston and Hamilton was postponed due to waterlogging at Almondvale. The game was due to be played at 3pm today.