He may only have been around Scottish football for a blink of an eye, but Nick Montgomery has already made up his mind about the narratives that swirl around a trip to Celtic Park.

Is it a free hit for Hibs? No. Do teams arrive in Glasgow’s east end beaten before a ball is kicked? Perhaps, but that’s not what he sees in his team. Montgomery has been all about changing perceptions since replacing Lee Johnson as Easter Road manager back in December. He has extracted more from certain Hibs players than many thought possible, bucked the Premiership’s prevailing trend of reluctance in affording opportunities to young Scots, and his side are among very few in the division of whom you can identify a clear, defined style of play.

Even Celtic and Rangers have been stylistically indecipherable at times this term, but not Hibs. It might not be enough for them to earn a first victory at Celtic Park since 2010, but it is little surprise to hear Montgomery refuse to buy into pre-conceived notions about what can and can’t be done in this fixture. Not even a chastening 4-0 defeat away to Rangers in October has changed his mind on that.

“I don’t subscribe to the idea that it’s a free hit,” said Montgomery. "At Ibrox, we played really well but just gave away some shocking goals. The whole occasion for them – new manager coming in – it was one of those games. We still had enough chances to get back in it, but our execution wasn’t good enough and we lost. 1-0 or 4-0, it makes no difference, we lost the game.

“Going to Celtic Park, it’s not a free hit. We will go there looking to get a result, but we’re realistic and know it’s a very hard place to go. We’re in a good place, we feel we’re progressing well. The togetherness we showed at the weekend, that shows we’ve come a long way.

“But I definitely don’t go with it being a free hit – it’s 11v11. Yeah, the odds are stacked against you and we’re definitely the underdog, but you’ve seen many times in sport that the underdog can come through and get the result.

“Do teams go there already beaten? I don’t feel that [with my team] The boys go out every week with belief. Even the times we’ve had to come from behind, I don’t feel they’ve lacked belief that they can get a result.

“There’s a lot of media talk about that, so I’m sure some players do get it in their head. But, as a coach, you have to give the team belief to play, and to get results. Playing against the Old Firm, no doubt that’s something that’s been around for a long time, and the reality is you’re talking two teams with huge budgets and very good squads. It’s not just the players who start, you only have to look at the bench to see the depth of both of those teams.”

Several prominent pundits wasted no time in letting Montgomery know that around these here parts, anything other than setting up for a siege in Glasgow is hopeless folly. He was accused of being too open at Ibrox, but his team were cost more by errors of execution than strategy. In his playing days at Sheffield United, Montgomery was as pragmatic as they come, and understands taking points from the champions will require a dose of that tonight.

READ MORE: How Hibs can challenge Celtic: Set-plays and competitiveness

“That’s not how I see the game,” said Montgomery. But there is no doubt that we will have to park the bus at times. There will be times when the goal is under threat, and we have got a lot better at blocking shots and crosses.

"Celtic are a team with a lot of mobility and players who are good on the ball and have good movement so there will be times when we are defending deep and we will have to park the bus but when we have the ball, we are going to try to get at Celtic when we can.

"We know we have pace to hurt every team, and we have to be careful we don’t turn the ball over cheaply. Celtic are very good in possession, and they are more than happy to keep the ball, so we have to defend for our lives.