Celtic come out of cold storage to visit Rugby Park tomorrow night to kick off a hectic period for Brendan Rodgers and his squad.
Tom Rogic and Emilio Izaguirre are likely to be missing after being involved in international matches on Tuesday with Rodgers unhappy about the timing of this match.
It’ll be the first time that Rodgers has been to Rugby Park as Celtic boss with the stadium holding lots of different memories for the visiting support.
With the Celtic support revived under their new manager both stands behind the goals will be filled to capacity with Friday night football also an attraction.
In recent seasons the 25 mile journey from Glasgow to Kilmarnock has been less than popular with a number of policies upsetting fans.
When Killie abstained from the vote to parachute Sevco into the top flight a number of Celtic fans decided to give the fixture a miss although club owner Michael Johnston wasn’t much more popular with his own ‘supporters’.
To whet your appetite for tomorrow night VideoCelts has picked out a couple of dramatic visits to Kilmarnock to get you in the mood.
KILMARNOCK 0-6 CELTIC 7 APRIL 2012
What a day, what a game!
It was billed as a day to party with the Celtic support obliging as they filled up three stands out of four to acclaim the first title win since 2008.
A first half double from Charlie Mulgrew set the tone with the hoops leading 4-0 at the break with Rugby Park rocking.
Late goals from Joe Ledley and Gary Hooper ensured that the title was won in style, no trophy was handed over but the champions took a bow at the final whistle before going on a lap of honour.
KILMARNOCK 3-3 CELTIC 15 OCTOBER 2011
It was the game that looked certain to be the end of the road for Neil Lennon as Celtic trailed 3-0 at half-time.
Somehow Anthony Stokes and James Forrest dragged the team back into the match to salvage a point, later the same day St Mirren snatched a draw from Rangers (IL) at Ibrox and doubts kicked in about Ally McCoist’s team.
This match will remain pivotal in Celtic’s recent history, Lennon has admitted that at half time he had considered resigning if he was unable to get his side to challenge for the title.
KILMARNOCK 0-1 CELTIC 18 MARCH 2016
Utterly dire, the sort of fixture that would get the ‘beautiful game’ banned as Celtic laboured for 90 minutes, knocking the ball from wing to wing with no real idea of how to get a goal.
Frustrations were boiling over as the team toiled to complete the basics, opening the door to an unlikely league challenge from Aberdeen.
Fortunately Tom Rogic came up with a glorious 30 yarder that broke the deadlock, for good measure Aberdeen lost later that day at Motherwell and all was well with the world again.
KILMARNOCK 0-4 CELTIC 20 APRIL 2011
An emotional night at Rugby Park with Neil Lennon getting full security after confirmation that he had been sent bombs and bullets in the post from Ayrshire.
In his first full season in charge Celtic were going full pelt for the title despite the handicap of paying HMRC full income tax and national insurance on their players earnings.
The Celtic players responded to the situation and the incredible backing of the support, a double from Kris Commons plus goals from Anthony Stokes and Gary Hooper completed the scoring within an hour.
KILMARNOCK 1-2 CELTIC 22 APRIL 2007
Stumbling towards the title there was a makeshift look about the Celtic side as they donned their green and black stripes to face Kilmarnock.
A first half goal from Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink prompted a party but early in the second half Colin Nish put that idea on the back burner.
In the final minute of the match Shunsuke Nakamura executed a perfect free kick to deliver the points and kick off a Sunday title party that few are likely to forget.