Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin has warned of the ‘aura’ of Celtic boss Martin O’Neill

Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin expects a very different test for Celtic when the two sides face off in Glasgow on Saturday and knows the impact Martin O’Neill’s ‘aura’ can have on the dressing room.

Godwin’s side won the previous encounter 2-1 at Tannadice last month as part of Celtic’s stumble under Wilfried Nancy, who was sacked on Monday after six defeats in eight games.

O’Neill oversaw seven wins in eight games as caretaker coach earlier this season after Brendan Rodgers resigned in October.

He now returns to the dugout until the end of the season after Nancy’s disastrous 33-day spell left Celtic six points behind league leaders Hearts and three behind old rivals Rangers.

“People talk about the game of football and the modern game,” Goodwin said. “I don’t think the game has changed in terms of someone’s knowledge of the game. Whether Martin is 73 or 43, I don’t think it makes much difference.”

“He knows what it means to win football games. He knows how to do it and he has good people around him too – the likes of Sean Maloney, Mark Fotheringham and other people behind the scenes.

“We have to hope that we can go there and give the same performance as we did here just a few weeks ago. Even though it was against what we would expect from a different system and different personnel. We know how tough the trip to Celtic Park is.

“I think they will go back to the previous way of playing under Martin, which was a four-man defense.

“I think this suits the current group of players at Celtic better than the 3-4-3 system they have been trying to play in for the last seven or eight games.”