I have a sneaking admiration for Ross County. A nice trim, little ground, friendly supporters and a lovely drive up the A9 on a crisp autumn day. A well organised outfit whose results do them credit, and show what really can be done with maximum local support and good stewardship.

However, not a lot of people would immediately be able to tell you that the last winners of the Scottish League Cup before Celtic’s four in a row were Ross County, and indeed that the last club to defeat Celtic in that competition were Ross County! That takes us back to the last day in January 2016 where we lost 1-3 to the Staggies at Hampden in one of the less happy moments of our lives in the last 20 years.

It was an astonishing game refereed enthusiastically by Craig Thomson who sent off Efe Ambrose, booked another eight players (5 Staggies and 3 Celts) for not very much, then awarded Celtic a softish penalty which Leigh Griffiths missed. Mr Thomson was not, however, the only man to have a “stinker” on the park at Hampden that day!

Celtic had gone ahead when Gary Mackay-Steven picked up a good ball from Griffiths and scored in the first minute and before quite a lot of the not very large crowd of about 22,000 had arrived.(Incidentally, those who complain about empty seats and no atmosphere in 2020 should have a look at the film of this game!). All Celtic really had to do was be sensible. But the game changed when Efe Ambrose touched (no more than that) Alex Schalk with his knee inside the box. Schalk had the good sense to go down, win the penalty and bye, bye Efe! So 1-1 after 14 minutes and 11 v 10. Erik Sviatchenko came on (for his debut!) and Callum McGregor had to go off to allow him on.

Still 1-1 at half time, but then two goals for Ross County early in the second half. Craig Thomson, ever the eccentric, gave Celtic a lifeline with another soft penalty and a clearly reluctant Leigh Griffiths took it and smashed it against the goalkeeper. A dreadful day for Celtic to match the awful weather, but a good day for Ross County who went on to beat Hibs in the final.

A better occasion, although the weather was possibly worse, came in the only other occasion that Celtic have faced Ross County in the Scottish League Cup. This was on Wednesday September 21 2011 when we travelled to Dingwall still reeling from a 4-2 defeat by Rangers on the Sunday. We may have expected the worst, but spirits were lifted by a regulation (possibly even slightly boring) 2-0 win with a goal from Gary Hooper and an own goal, and the long journey home was made all the sweeter by the fish and chips at Aviemore and the news that Rangers, Hearts and Aberdeen had all gone out of the Scottish League Cup.

So Ross County in a fortnight’s time. We can only hope that it is going to be on some TV station or other, because I am still working out a way to see Hibs v Celtic on Saturday. The game kicks off at the most unusual time of 3.00 pm on Saturday. (Maybe more games could be played at that time to see how it works!). So how am I going to see this game? At the age of 72, I don’t really think trying to climb the wall is a very good idea.

David Potter