Making history has become Brendan Rodgers’ trademark at Celtic. If the invincible season announced his arrival on the Scottish scene then a back-to-back treble underlined it. If this campaign has been more staccato in nature than the previous two, the chance to plant another flag in Celtic’s history books remains prevalent; never before have the Parkhead side won three successive Scottish Cups.

There would be cause for optimism that it remains within Rodgers’ reach this season. Of the 22 Cup games that he has overseen in the Scottish and League Cup, he has yet to suffer a bloody nose in any of them. Regardless of the dip in consistency that plagued the opening half of the campaign, the sheer consistency of Celtic in cup competition would lend them a degree of optimism as they seek to defend the trophy.

“I wasn’t aware the club hadn’t won three in a row,” said midfielder Callum McGregor, who has been a mainstay of that run. “It’s obviously the target for this group of players and there’s no doubt it would be another bit of history for us. It starts today and we need to be fully focused on the job.

“We know how tough these competitions are to win. It’s about putting in performances to get you to Hampden in the first place. Tomorrow is about getting through the tie and seeing who we get in the next round.

“Our cup record has been great, 22 straight wins you said. We all know how difficult cup ties are. If you are not on your game then there’s obviously a big chance you could slip up and be knocked out. We’ve shown remarkable consistency in the cup games under the manager and we deserve praise for continually bringing that level of performance.

“It shows how good the squad is, how good the manager is in setting us up to ensure there are no shocks and we do deserve credit there is no doubt. We know good Celtic teams in the past have slipped up, by the law of averages it can happen. It’s an incredible record to have and one we’re proud of and one we’re determined to keep going. We have played big games, big finals, but we have always brought of A game.”

The visit of Airdrie this evening is also expected to offer a first glimpse of the new arrivals that Celtic have brought into the club. Oliver Burke and Timothy Weah are expected to feature at some point although with Vakoun Issouf Bayo been out of commission this week as he sorts out the red tape over his work permit it is unlikely that he will play a part at Celtic Park.

First impressions of Weah on social media suggest that he is not lacking in confidence for an 18-year-old, while the more mature Burke is itching to make an impression given his recent history of treading water.

“Tim has come in and done well, he looks good,” said McGregor. “You can see the confidence oozing out of him. To play at this club you need to be sure of yourself and he certainly seems to be. His dad was maybe just before my time but I know what a great player he was.

“To carry that can around with you as his son you need to be a confident lad but we need to help him. Timothy is still a young lad, he’s only 18 so he’s not going to come in and be the main man straight away. It’s up to the other lads to help guide him and not to expect too much from him.

“The new lads coming in will certainly provide us with different options. These boys are super quick in terms ofgetting in behind people and turning defenders. They are going to give us another dimension to our game.

“They know how we want to work in terms of pressing, playing fast, aggressive football and, of course, I knew Oli briefly from the Scotland set up. I’ve known him through a couple of squads and it’s been great to get to know him better. He seems a mature lad and hopefully with him being abroad that will help him too. They will both give us different options in terms of formation and how we want to play.”

Rodgers speaks regularly of the January break as providing the opportunity to press the reset button, something that McGregor has acknowledged. With Celtic involved in weekend and midweek games since the end of June, the chance to actually work on various things in training is something that McGregor expects to be of benefit as the second half of the campaign looms.

“We go from June right through until December and it’s two games a week,” said the midfielder, who has played more games than other player at the club this season. “You’re not getting that much coaching time inbetween the games. So the winter break is a good period to work on things that we don’t think are quite right.

“It was a really good coaching week and we just reinforced our own style and how we want to play. We always seem to kick on after the winter break, it’s something we have always done under the manager and something we hope we can do again.”