O'Neill prepares an appropriate welcome

Once the talking stops, the playing begins – and Celtic will be ready

The sweat had barely dried on Martin O'Neill's brow after Friday morning's training session as he conducted his press conference in mud-spattered tracksuit and football boots. The Celtic manager is unlikely to have cleaned up his act by Thursday night.

Echoes of Brian Clough perhaps? O'Neill, though, is not really a clone of his mentor. He scrubs up better, in a shirt and tie, when he is on the BBC. His philosophy is closer to that of the late Jock Stein, who guided Celtic to the European Cup in 1967.

As befitted a former miner, Stein laid out a simple rule for his players: you put your working clothes on to get the job done, and your suit once you've won something. When the cameras pan down the dug-out area at Celtic Park on Thursday, only one of the managers will be suited up.

Graeme Souness has long since been a knight in shining Armani. The Blackburn Rovers manager could scarcely contrast more with his counterpart, who has only once discarded his own little black number – Umbro, naturally – in his 29 months in the east end of Glasgow, and that was when Celtic won the 2001 Scottish Cup final to complete the first Treble since Stein's team 32 years earlier.

The Uefa Cup second-round pairing may be billed by the BBC as another Battle of Britain, but O'Neill would rather win the war. And not the phoney one. Hearing reports from the south that Souness had said he would be willing to lose to Celtic if it guaranteed Premiership survival, the Northern Irishman smiled: "I never saw Graeme Souness going into any game that he didn't want to win."

O'Neill and Souness have crossed swords before in Continental conflict. The European Cup first-round meeting in September 1978 between Nottingham Forest and Liver-pool is a lasting memory for O'Neill. "They were the holders and we were the English champions. We won 2-0 at the City Ground and it was 0-0 at Anfield," he recalls.

"They were tough battles. Myself and Archie Gemmill were hardly cloggers, but we had Ian Bowyer to protect us and when we saw Liverpool complaining to the referee about Ian, we knew we had a chance."

O'Neill believes that Liverpool line-up was one of the best Britain ever produced. "They never got enough credit. Graeme was at the core. Everything went through him," said O'Neill, before rubbing his leg smiling, "and he was aggressive." Yet the Celtic manager does not believe that Thursday night's contest will reach those spiteful standards, even allowing for the presence of the man whose work at Rangers until his departure 11 years ago earned him Parkhead's undying enmity.

"I don't think Graeme will be a factor for my players," he insisted. "None were here when he was at Rangers. I can imagine it will be a British style of game. It will maybe be more open, but Blackburn are a very good football side, who like a lot of teams in the Premiership play more of a European game, as do we."

O'Neill, though, has stirred interest in Celtic south of the border. Not because of the two successive Scottish Premier League titles, but for persistently bringing his team to England against the backdrop of Celtic being invited to join the Premiership one day. Compelling evidence was supplied, in the shape of a 4-3 win at Manchester United, a 4-1 rout of Leeds United and a 1-1 draw at Arsenal, friendlies that drew massive live television audiences.

"Whatever pressure there is, it's not on Blackburn," the Celtic manager declared. "It must be nice to go into a game where there is no pressure on you. If we don't win, then people down south will say we not good enough for the Premiership, and if we do, it will be because Blackburn are not one of England's big guns.

"Yet Blackburn are a side capable of beating anyone on their day, the way they thrashed Newcastle recently. Jack Walker may not be around any longer, but his legacy is still there in that they are capable of getting top players. You don't buy Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke to fight relegation battles, and I'll bet you Blackburn's wage bill is far bigger than mine."

In the days of Stein, talent, not money, was what counted. Celtic's conquering of Don Revie's Leeds in the 1970 European Cup semi-final remains football's ultimate Battle of Britain, but the two most recent skirmishes – both in the Uefa Cup – tarnished the Glasgow club's record.

"I was at the 1984 tie with Nottingham Forest," said O'Neill. "Celtic did really well to draw 0-0 at the City Ground, then lost here. I saw the Liverpool tie in 1997 when Steve McManaman scored in the last minute here to make it 2-2 and Celtic went out on away goals. We want to keep things tight. It might be a Scotland-England thing, but Uefa rules still apply."