Manchester United can wrap up a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League as well as making a point to their critics with a victory over Celtic here on Wednesday.

Given the ease with which the Scottish champions were seen off in a 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford last month, that outcome would seem like a foregone conclusion.

But Celtic will go into a match they must win to keep their chances of survival in the competition alive bolstered by memories of United`s last competitive outing at Parkhead.

On that occasion, one of Shunsuke Nakamura`s trademark, dipping free-kicks proved enough to give Celtic a 1-0 win, although their Japanese star had to share the plaudits with goalkeeper Artur Boruc, who saved a last-minute penalty from Louis Saha.

Celtic boss Gordon Strachan has been resolutely downbeat about his side`s prospects of upsetting opponents who have been signficantly strengthened since Nakamura scored his spectacular winner two years ago.

But the former United midfielder will perhaps have taken heart from the recent signs that the vast array of talent at the disposal of his old boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, has led to a degree of complacency creeping into their play.

That certainly seemed to be the case on Saturday when a 4-1 lead over Hull was cut back to a one-goal advantage that left United hanging on at the end.

`We got a warning on Saturday,` admitted goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. `We have to make sure we finish teams off.

`We must not stop halfway through the second half and start thinking about the next game.

`You have to take it one game at a time, win it with confidence and then move on.`

The Dutchman added: `For a goalkeeper and the players you do not like to concede three goals.

`Of course you want to win games but by 1-0, 2-0, 3-0. When you are 4-1 up, you do not expect the other side to score another two goals.`

United boss Ferguson has hinted that van der Sar could be rested for the trip to Glasgow with England international Ben Foster set to make his first start in the competition following a string of injuries over the last 18 months.

Scotland midfielder Darren Fletcher is also expected to return to the starting line-up with fit-again Michael Carrick dropping to the bench, possibly with one eye on Saturday`s Premier League showdown with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

Having unexpectedly failed to beat Danish champions Aalborg at home in their opening group match, Celtic are languishing in group E with just one point from their three matches so far, and Strachan is under no illusions about the scale of the task facing his side, whose performance at Old Trafford has been taken as a sign of a growing gulf in standards between Scottish and English club football.

`We didn’t play as well as we would have liked to have played in Manchester, but Man United are probably the best team in the world,` the Celtic manager said.

`Roma went there and got beat 7-1 but no-one said there was a big gulf between Italian football and English football, West Ham went to Old Trafford last week and it was 2-0 - it could have been six in half-an-hour. West Brown went there and lost 4-0. Hull went there at the weekend and conceded four.

`Everyone who goes there, who has spent more money than us, has got a right tonking there. We got beat 3-0 but two of the goals were offside so it`s not as bad as people have been making out.

`I`m hoping we`ll win, but let`s get it right - we want to play better but we know we`re playing against the best team in the world.`