Jim McIntyre is determined that his Ross County side are not going to Celtic Park on Saturday to be bit-part players in a Hoops party on the opening day.

Lisbon Lion John Clark will unfurl the Ladbrokes Premiership flag before kick-off to confirm the Parkhead club's fourth successive title won under Ronny Deila last season.

However, the Staggies boss is mindful that his side picked up a point when they visited the east end of Glasgow last December and is looking for his side to go one better as the new campaign gets under way.

"They are the games you want to be involved in," said McIntyre. "You want to be going to places like Parkhead and getting results.

"We got a result there last season and it would be great if we could go one better this time and get the three points.

"There is no reason why we can't, but what we do know is that any time you go there you have to bet at your best.

"You have to make sure that you are well organised because, if you are not, they have players who can really hurt you as we have seen in the past.

"You don't judge yourself against a team like Celtic, we just want to go there and get a result, it's as simple as that."

The Dingwall club struggled all the way to February last season before a remarkable turnaround in form – including a nine-game unbeaten run – helped drag them away from the relegation zone to a ninth-placed finish.

McIntyre, understandably, is looking for a less fraught campaign.

The former Queen of the South boss said: "We have got to finish higher than we did last year, we have to show that we have progressed.

"We have to better in the cup competitions as well, that is something we are keen to do.

"But we have to show the consistency which we did do in the last three months of the season."

New boy Dan Bachmann, signed on loan until the new year from Stoke, will provide competition for McIntyre's other new goalkeeper, former Partick No.1 Scott Fox, but he is determined to get the nod from McIntyre.

He said: "I am here to play. I am not here to sit on the bench, but we will see what happens on Saturday.

"I am looking forward to the game at Celtic Park, but we are not just going there to have a good time, we are going to get some points."