Charlie Mulgrew saw the scoreline come in from Dingwall on Sunday and his mind flashed back 13 years.

To May 4, 2011, to be precise. There were no external forces in the galaxy helping Celtic that night as the fates conspired to wrestle the title from their grasp.

The former Celtic defender had a howler as Neil Lennon's men slipped to a 3-2 midweek defeat against Inverness in the Highlands on a hot summer night. The loss was to prove fatal for Celtic's title ambitions as Walter Smith's Rangers won the race for the flag by a solitary point as the Light Blues reeled off four straight victories in the post-split fixtures.

Celtic had given Rangers an outside chance of lifting the league trophy after Greek striker Georgios Samaras had failed to convert a late spot-kick at Ibrox in a 0-0 draw and kill their rivals' title chances off in the process but Smith's men still needed a favour from elsewhere which they duly got on that fateful night in Inverness.

Mulgrew can't shake the feeling of deja vu and fully empathises with Philippe Clement's men after their shock 3-2 loss to Ross County at the weekend placed them four points behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership title race.

The 38-year-old former Scotland stopper fears lightning could be set to strike twice only this time Celtic will be the beneficiaries. Mulgrew revealed how he did not cover himself in glory on a night when Lennon famously booted the water bottles at the side of the pitch as the clock ticked down.

The Northern Irishman then forced his players to watch a video nasty re-run of the entire match on the journey home before the inquest continued into the small hours of the morning when they arrived back at Celtic Park with some harsh words exchanged by all and sundry as Lennon tore strips off his charges.

Mulgrew said: "It was horrible in the dressing room that night we lost to Inverness. It was a summer's night. I will never forget it. We came back to Celtic Park but not before we watched a re-run of the game on the bus.

"When we arrived at Celtic Park we went straight into a team meeting in the coaches' room. Lenny was just getting heated up at that point! Let's say we were told a few home truths and we all had our opinions on it.

"I had a nightmare in the game. I remember having to take a bit of flak which was deserved.

"That's the way it is. It is part and parcel of playing for Celtic. I can just imagine what the Rangers players were going through on Sunday after the Ross County result, I can understand that.

"Nothing that was said in that room wasn't true. I know we didn't turn up and we didn't play well that night or rather I didn't play particularly well but you have just got to respond in the next game and go again.

"It's hard to take that sort of criticism but you know yourself deep down that it is true. You need to hear it and it is why I like being honest with people in a coaching environment in the most respectable way.

"Honesty is the best policy. We had a squad that told the truth to players and a manager who did the same."

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Celtic Way:

Mulgrew has been over the course and distance of tight Premiership title races before and he knows there is no hiding place in the city, especially when it comes to the Glasgow melting pot.

There is no escape for both sets of players whenever Celtic and Rangers are locking horns for the biggest prize in Scottish football. It hovers in the air. It permeates the atmosphere like nothing else. It's everywhere and it is plastered all over the media - TV, press, radio, you name it.

Mulgrew admitted that there was nothing like it even though the pressure was constant and that every individual player has their own coping mechanisms.

Off the park, he shunned any limelight. On the park, he remembers feeling relieved whenever Celtic went a goal up in games during the title run-in. However, he insists that there is nothing to beat getting a title over the line and that you can easily get hooked on that winning feeling.

He said: “It’s in your head every minute of every day. You are living it. Everywhere you go, people are talking about it. You can just feel it everywhere. Every game you turn up for there is so much pressure. I tried to avoid the pressure but you just feel it.

"In Glasgow, it’s unique. You can go to the shop and somebody will say, ‘What happened on Saturday?’ You just instantly get a feeling of how people are feeling. You get a sense of it just from the tone of their voice.

“It’s the opposite if you win a game and even if the other team loses, you bump into fans of your own club and they are high as a kite. Suddenly, you feel like everything has turned. Everywhere you go, you get a feeling of how things are. You can only avoid it if you lock yourself in the house.

Some players will look at social media, others won’t. Some players will read papers, others won’t. Everybody’s different but you find your own way to cope.”

Celtic Way:

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Although the 2010/11 season did have a happy ending and silver lining for Mulgrew. He smashed home the third goal from a free-kick as Celtic cruised past Motherwell 3-0 in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park. It remains a career highlight for Mulgrew.

He said: "We trained on Celtic Park the day before the final. I weren’t out straight away and was hitting free kicks like that although I never hit any as sweet as that.

When the free-kick came on the day, I just fancied it. I just smashed it and it flew into the net. There’s a great camera shot from behind the goal, the rain had just gone off. What a feeling. Scoring in a Scottish Cup Final for Celtic.

"I was just back in the team in January. It was a dream come true to finish the season like that having lost the league on the last day.

"It ended on a positive. It’s always a great day coming here for the final. It’s something every player wants to do."

Brendan Rodgers's Celtic side head back to the national stadium this weekend to take on Aberdeen for the right to come back on May 25th to contest the end-of-season showpiece against either Rangers or Hearts.

Mulgrew reckons that it is churlish to suggest that a Glasgow derby Scottish Cup final is a foregone conclusion and that the final two prizes of the season will be decided by the outcomes of meetings between Celtic and Rangers.

The smart money is on both Celtic and Rangers seeing off their respective opponents at the last four stage but Mulgrew reckons that neither Aberdeen nor Hearts can be discounted in their quest to upset the odds.

He said: "It’s dangerous to write off any of the other teams. If Rangers or Celtic get into the mindset of thinking that the derby games will decide the season, that’s when you’re in trouble.

“You’ve got Aberdeen and Hearts coming here to Hampden both trying to get to a Scottish Cup Final this weekend so it’s about focussing on the game in hand and being ready for that.

“Celtic are coming up against an Aberdeen side which has just got a new manager and that has been picking up some better results lately. They have some good, dangerous players and they’ll be looking to get to a final.

“That’s what Celtic have to focus on - take it one game at a time - and be in the moment of the semi-final. Then, going into the league, you can’t afford to think it’s all going to hinge on the Old Firm game.

“Just look at Rangers up at Ross County at the weekend, up against a team fighting for their lives in the league. Other teams are fighting for Europe and there are other teams with no pressure who maybe don’t have much to play for.

“It’s dangerous to take your eye off the ball so both Celtic and Rangers will need to be ready for every game and the derby game will take care of itself when it comes along.

“So there are big obstacles in the way for both teams but they can begin to see the finishing line now and I’m sure they’ll know what they have to do.

"If I had to bet on it, I’d go Celtic and Rangers but both of them need to navigate their way through. They are playing against two teams that are desperate to get there as well and to win some silverware as well. If they can get to a final and have that chance to do that they’re going to be up for it.

"Sometimes when you are playing against an underdog, it’s hard because all the expectation is on Celtic and Rangers.

"My prediction would be a Celtic v Rangers final but it will be difficult.’"

Charlie Mulgrew was speaking at a Scottish Gas media event. Scottish Gas is the proud partner of the Scottish Cup.