Celtic star McManus: I would dedicate title win to legend Tommy

Club captain Stephen McManus would never confuse a genuine tragedy like the passing of Burns with anything so trivial as the destination of a league flag.

But the Scotland defender spoke movingly yesterday of a collective will to end this week of mourning in a positive manner.

Inspiration: Burns' memory will boost Celts at Tannadice

Celtic need to beat Dundee United at Tannadice tonight and maintain their four-goal advantage over second-placed Rangers in order to guarantee a third successive championship for the first time since the Jock Stein era.

Former player, manager, youth academy director and first-team coach Burns was a mentor to many of the current squad, especially those who came through the Celtic system, and his death has hit the players hard.

But McManus promised the right kind of response tonight, saying: "It's about everything  -  about keeping composed and not letting your emotions get the better of you.

"No matter what happens in football, this has been a hell of a week for every single one of us. It has certainly been tough. Five per cent? It probably gives us another 50 per cent motivation.

"It's something that, in life, you just deal with. We'll do our best and we've done our best to deal with it as well as we can.

"We've got every single one of us together. We've been there for each other this week, as players and as coaches. If there is one person we would do it for, it would certainly be Tommy. That is maybe an old cliche but we've got one game to win. One thing is for sure  -  every single one of us will be knocking our pan in to do that.

"It would be a fitting end to the season and a tremendous tribute if we could win the title. It would certainly be dedicated to Tommy."

McManus is adamant that, despite the worst fears of supporters, belief within the squad has never wavered  -  and he is hopeful that tonight will see him lift the SPL trophy as captain for the first time.

"It would be nice to, but it's going to be a very, very hard game," he added. "Playing at Tannadice in any situation would be very tough, so to go there and have to win the championship will be difficult.

But we certainly believe that we've got the players and the character needed to achieve that. The players have always believed in their own ability. We've always believed that we could still win the title.

"It's strange, because you are bitterly disappointed after any game you don't win. But even after losing at home to Motherwell here a few weeks ago, we felt that, although it was a chance that had slipped by, we could go on a decent run  -  and then you never know what could happen.

"We've done that and, with one game to go, we're in with a chance. Momentum should help, I think, but when it gets to one game left, everybody in the country will be expecting Celtic and Rangers to win their games  -  only it doesn't always work out like that."