Celtic may finally be able to exorcise the ghosts of one of their worst ever cup defeats after they were drawn against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the third round of the CIS Cup.
The tie will bring back painful memories for the Parkhead side when a turbulent period in the club`s history came to a head after they were dumped out of the Scottish Cup by the First Division side in February 2000.
The Hoops headed into that game trailing bitter rivals Rangers by 10 points in the league and pressure was already starting to mount on rookie coach John Barnes. The 3-1 defeat at Parkhead brought the club to an all-time low.
Rumours of a half-time bust-up in the dressing room involving Mark Viduka were followed by a crash in the club`s shares the day after the defeat. The following day Celtic had to suffer the headline - `Super Cali go ballistic, Celtic are atrocious.`
Forty-eight hours after the game, Barnes` contract was terminated, along with that of assistant manager Eric Black, and director of football operations Kenny Dalglish took over the managerial reigns at the club.
Current boss Martin O`Neill has, of course, turned around the club`s fortunes since then and today`s draw could finally allow Celtic to put that fateful night behind them for good.
The draw for the Third round of the CIS Cup is as follows:-
Dunfermline v Falkirk
Partick v Dundee
Celtic v Inverness C T
St Johnstone v Livingston
Aberdeen v Motherwell
Hibernian v Rangers
Hearts v Ross County
Airdrie United v Dundee United