Strachan will try to keep it simple

SCOTTISH PREMIER DIVISIONGORDON STRACHAN will tell his Celtic players to ignore the scoreline from Pittodrie during tonight's title decider - because he once escaped relegation with the help of false information.

Celtic will almost certainly win the Premier League if they beat Dundee United away, as they have a four-goal advantage over Rangers.

But Rangers, who are level on points, have plenty of hope remaining as they prepare to face Aberdeen.

And Strachan would prefer to avoid that game impinging on the Tannadice encounter after a costly error by the Manchester City player Steve Lomas helped him avoid the drop in 1996.

City needed to better the result of Strachan's Coventry side and were level with Liverpool at Maine Road.

But Lomas was given the wrong scoreline from Highfield Road, where Coventry played out a goalless draw with Leeds.

"I have been there a couple of times - you stick to the game," Strachan said.

"There was once, Man City thought they were staying up and Steve Lomas took the ball into the corner, keeping it at 2-2 when they actually needed another goal.

"He had got the wrong information from somebody. It was handy for Coventry, because we stayed up.

"We will play the way we have played all season, and tried to play. There won't be any tactical magic. As a man used to say, 'we are Celtic, just get on and play'.

"If we win it would need an incredible performance, by both sides, at Pittodrie. We can only try and do our job."

While Strachan will keep his instructions simple, he knows victory will not be so easy against a United side looking to secure fourth place.

"We were fortunate to win there the last time - it was hard, hard work," the Celtic manager said. "They are hard work to play against because they are powerful, they can play and they are well managed.

"So you put that all together and I don't know if we could have gone to a worse place."

United are expected to leave out centre-back Lee Wilkie, as he is one booking away from a suspension that would carry into next season.

Strachan would not say his team would win the title for the late Tommy Burns, who was first-team coach and head of youth development in his final years at the club.

But he knows his close friend would like to see those around him happy again after a painful week since Burns died aged 51 last Thursday.

"What you have got to remember is that Tommy has never asked anyone to do anything for him in his life," Strachan said.

"What Tommy would like is other people around him enjoying themselves. So we are going to do it for everyone Tommy would like to do it for.

"And that includes his team-mates, players, fans. We will be doing it for the people who Tommy wanted to see enjoying themselves."

Strachan shed tears when he spoke to the media on the day Burns died, insisting their friendship had been the highlight of his time at Parkhead.

But the Celtic boss is confident his players, who all attended the church in Calton, can now get the "blinkers" on and focus on football.

"It's a rollercoaster ride," Strachan said. "Sometimes you get through it, sometimes you don't. Sometimes you think you are over it and have done your crying and you start gain.

"But I can see they're switched on now for the game. That's good, because it has been an emotional four or five days.

"And today we were back to normal - laughing and joking and hard work.

"That's the way we have got to do it - it's blinkers on now and we get on with the game."

Rangers, meanwhile, may prove to be victims of their own success if they lose out in the title chase.

But manager Walter Smith insists he will not look back upon an epic campaign with any regrets even if the Premier League trophy does remain in the east end of Glasgow.

Their visit to Aberdeen marks Rangers' 67th game, during which time they have claimed the Scottish League Cup, lost the Uefa Cup final and gone from red-hot favourites to outsiders for the league championship.

The one-time quest for a historic quadruple, that led to a crippling fixture schedule, may ultimately be Rangers' downfall but Smith is adamant he would not have had it any other way.

"If it turns out that way, then fine," he said. "You can only try to win and do as well as you can in whatever competition you are in.

"That's what we set out to do this season and we probably have succeeded to a greater degree than we thought, which led us into the situation we had last week with the Uefa Cup final.

"Now we have an opportunity to win the league and we want to take that.

"We have probably played more games than we wanted to this season. But, if it happens that that is the cause, that is something we just have to put up with.

"We go to Pittodrie looking for the win and hopefully that does us in terms of the league."

Tonight's matches (7.45)

Aberdeen v Rangers (Setanta Sports 1)

Dundee Utd v Celtic (Setanta Ireland)

Hibernian v Motherwell