Boss Ian Murray insists Airdrie will take hope into their William Hill Scottish Cup tie against Celtic at Parkhead on Saturday.

The League One side face a daunting task of ousting the holders and Ladbrokes Premiership leaders, who are looking to continue their quest for a domestic treble-treble.

Asked if there was any chance of a fourth-round cup upset from a side who are fifth in League One, the former Rangers defender told Press Association Sport: "There is always a chance.

"That's the beauty of why we play football. In sport we wait for that chance. There is always hope.

"I have been saying that to the boys, that's what we have right now.

"We have the hope and the slight chance. We know that it can happen, so why can't it be us?

"We will give it our best shot and as long as we come off the pitch knowing that we have given everything then I will be happy.

"It is totally different in terms of expectations because we go into every league game fighting for points and looking at league tables.

"The mind-set is let's go out and give a good account of ourselves and use it as a catalyst to have a really good final push to the play-off spaces for the rest of the season."

"We know we can match them in some ways; attitude, aggression and work rate.

"Of course it would be silly to suggest that we have players worth £10million in our team, so their quality levels are higher, but sometimes the quality is not always at top-level, even at Celtic.

"So we have to hope these guys have a bit of an off-day and we can capitalise on that."

Murray, who took over at the Lanarkshire club in October is happy enough with his side's recent form – they are unbeaten in four – but acknowledged the task in hand.

The former Dumbarton boss said: "Form has been decent, apart from the first two games when we were flat and a wee bit off the pace.

"Since then we have been excellent. Even the games we lost we have been playing really well. There have not been too many complaints from myself about the performances that's for sure.

"Celtic are so good and well-drilled in what they do they could put anybody out.

"How do we stop Celtic being so good? That is our incentive. But as people have seen over the last couple of years it is a difficult task."