‘Sunshine on Leith’ never did get a more emotional rendition that at Hampden when Hibernian won the Scottish Cup in 2016 with a 3-2 win over Rangers at Hampden.

Post-match events may have overtaken the occasion but the Hibernian support serenading the Cup as they broke their 114-year hoodoo was enough to hold the attention long after the game had finished.

Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic manager, enjoyed that one – just as he savoured the atmosphere last year at an Edinburgh derby. He’ll find himself part of the show on Sunday afternoon when he takes charge of a team for the first time at Easter Road when Celtic go up against Neil Lennon’s Hibernian for the third time already this term.

“I went to Easter Road for the first time last season for the Edinburgh derby against Hearts in the Scottish Cup,” recalled Rodgers. “The atmosphere was brilliant. It’s a lovely stadium and I really enjoyed it. I loved the son that they sing at the end, Sunshine on Leith. It was absolutely amazing, brilliant. I also saw it at Hampden when half the stadium was singing it and it was just great. They sang it after the Hearts game and it’s a really emotional song.

“From that night I have been looking forward to taking my team to Easter Road and I am looking forward to Sunday. There’s no doubt that Hibernian are one of Scotland’s great clubs. They’ve suffered a bit in recent years, going down but they won the Scottish Cup and they got over the line to get back up to the top flight.

“I only know Neil but clearly behind the scenes they do a very good job at Hibs.”

There is an argument to suggest that it was the Leith side who ran Celtic the closest yet as their winning run – a sequence of games which currently stretches to 67 without defeat - came under threat when the teams met in Glasgow back in September and drew 2-2.

There has been a common thread to the trio of games that Celtic have played against Lennon’s side this term in that they have all come on the back of a Champions League encounter.

The Champions League campaign this season has been a curious bag for Celtic with the ultimate declaration of success with a Europa League spot coming at a price. The Parkhead side were the only club to go into Europe’s premier competition through the Champions League and still maintain European football after Christmas but along the way there were demoralising defeats in the and in the immediate aftermath of the Anderlecht defeat, Rodgers was arguably as critical of his players as he has been in his tenure at the Parkhead club.

The days in between have dulled his frustrations, although he remains insistent that he will always be looking for quality from his players, regardless of the calibre of opposition.

“We have to have a demand,” said Rodgers. “Our quality in the game was not as good as I wanted it to be. But I didn’t say anything in the press that I didn’t really the players. But this is a group who is pushed to their limit and beyond at this level. There’s no getting away from that. And how they have played and worked at times has been very good. But there’s a constant demand to get better.”

Despite his obvious wrath after the game Rodgers has looked at the qualification for Monday’s Europa League draw as the picture and believes that the side he inherited 18 months would not have been mentally tough enough to see out what was more like a two-legged knockout tie.

“My staff tell me we have had three games like that in the past that we probably would have fallen away in,” he said. “Away to Be’er Sheva that we lost 2-0 but got through. The Astana game earlier in the competition where it could have got away from the team but we got through. And the other night against Anderlecht where we were nowhere near our best and there was a nervousness - but we got through it.

“That shows the team and it’s resilience is improving.

“This was a team that had not qualified for the Champions League for three years and finished bottom of the Europa League with no wins. Within 18 months we have qualified for two Champions Leagues in difficult groups and taken a step into the Europa League. With virtually the same group. It’s easy to criticise.”

The former Liverpool manager also noted the performance of the Anfield side this week and believed that the Premiership side were lauded for a complete performance against Spartak Moscow while Celtic’s heavy defeats to PSG and Bayern Munich were viewed through the prism not of how strong their opponents were, but how poor the Glasgow club performed.

“We lose 7-1 to PSG - one of the best teams in world football - and the group is told how bad they are, how bad the tactics were,” he said. “Spartak Moscow lose seven goals in midweek and it’s not about how bad Spartak were. It’s about how good Liverpool were. And Liverpool were good!

“It’s unfortunate the world we live in is all about critics. But we can’t afford to let that shape us. That’s not something we do.”

Leigh Griffiths did not come off the bench for the game against Anderlecht but is fully fit, while Dedryck Boyata played on the back of a flu virus and Scott Sinclair, who lasted 45 minutes, with an ankle injury. Both are expected to be fit for the visit to the Capital.