Scott Sinclair: I was No.19 when Man City faced Bayern but now I want to do a number on them for Celtic

Sinclair travelled with the Barclays Premier League club to Bavaria for a Champions League group game three years ago during what was an unhappy spell for him at the Etihad Stadium.

However, the winger ended up not even getting stripped for a match which Manuel Pellegrini’s expensively-assembled side lost 1-0 when they conceded a last minute goal to Jerome Boateng.

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Sinclair, who scooped numerous Player of the Year awards last season as Brendan Rodgers’ side went undefeated domestically and won the treble, is in a far better place now and is looking forward to featuring in the Group B game.

“I have been here before with City so it’s nice to come back and be more involved,” he said. It’s a huge difference to the last time as I wasn’t involved at all. I wasn’t even on the bench.

“I was the 19th man for City back then, but now I’m coming back with a role to play and I am enjoying it. It just goes to show the progression in my career, but I want to keep progressing and improving. I’m at Celtic and am enjoying playing Champions League football.

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“I am in a much different head space now. I am enjoying playing, I’m scoring and winning. It was tough getting relegated at Villa and the dark days when you are maybe not getting a game. But it’s different now. You need to enjoy these occasions because this is what it’s all about.”

The 28-year-old, though, wants to do far more than just take part in the mouthwatering encounter with a Bayern side who have been lifted by the appointment of Jupp Heynckes.

He is determined to help Celtic get a result and knows that he and all of Rodgers’s charges will have to perform at their best in the futuristic 75,000-capacity stadium.

Read more: Jupp Heynckes: My Bayern Munich team won't underestimate Celtic - they can pip us to Champions League last 16 spot

“I don’t buy any of that talk about Bayern being in crisis,” he said. “They have got world class players in their team. There’s almost too many to mention.

“When there’s a change in manager it can disrupt things, but I would expect them to go out and play their normal game against us. We need to step up and do as well as we can.”

Despite not playing for City against Bayern back in 2014, Sinclair knows all about the capabilities of one of their danger men, fellow wide player Arjen Robben, from personal experience.

He was a young player at Chelsea when Netherlands internationalist Robben was at the Stamford Bridge club and saw at close quarters the skills that have made him one of the outstanding players of his generation.

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“He was unbelievable,” he said. “I looked at him as a wide player and some of his touches were unreal, you just look at the way he can go past players.

“At that time at Chelsea there were guys like Damien Duff, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Joe Cole - as well as Arjen. It was difficult for me to get past a few of those players as an 18-year-old.

“Arjen was right up there. He’s world-class and you can see he still has his qualities. Everyone knows what he is going to do but stopping him is a different matter.

The Englishman feels that Celtic, who are hoping to build on the 3-0 triumph they recorded over Anderlecht in Belgium last month and move nearer towards securing European football after Christmas, will have to make closing the 33-year-old down a priority.

Read more: Attack! Attack! Attack! Brendan Rodgers vows to unleash barrage on Bayern Munich the Celtic way​

“I think you need to double up on him, and make sure when he does cut in he is running in to more bodies,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll be running back more than usual, but that’s okay, it’s about doing the job for the team.”

Sinclair is adamant that he and his team mates have learned lessons from the heavy 5-0 defeat they suffered in their opening group game against Paris Saint-Germain last month and will go into this outing against another team many have tipped to win the Champions League with confidence.

“Every game we play at this level we gain experience,” he said. “PSG were unbelievable that night to score that many goals. But we went away from it and reflected on ways we could improve.

“I think we did that in Anderlecht. It was the club’s first away win in the groups for something like five years. We showed we improved and that is what we will keep trying to do.

Read more: Brendan Rodgers puts faith in makeshift Celtic defence to handle Bayern Munich dangermen in Champions League clash

“The goals haven’t changed. Every time we go in to these games we have nothing to lose. We just need to have belief and confidence. We want to enjoy it and try to come away with a result.

“You can’t have any doubts. You are talking about going up against players who have won this competition and who have won World Cups. You need to put that to one side and make sure we give them a game.”

Gareth Southgate, the England manager, last week claimed that Sinclair, who has been capped at every age-group level for his country, wasn’t playing at the level he needed to be in order considered for a call up to his squad ahead of the Russia 2018 finals.

The player, who scored the third goal for Celtic in their win over Anderlecht, is hopeful he can force his way to Southgate’s attention by performing well in a high-profile Champions League meeting with Bayern.

“I hope he is watching,” he said. “For me, it’s about concentrating on doing well and these are the games to do it in. We’ll see what happens.”