CHRIS ERSKINE is confident Dundee United can end Celtic's aspirations of a first domestic treble in 14 years after the clubs were paired together in the draw for the quarter-finals of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

With just three Premiership sides remaining in the competition, the match at Tannadice on either March 7 or 8 is the undisputed tie of the round, with Inverness Caledonian Thistle against Raith Rovers, Queen of the South taking on Falkirk, and Hibernian hosting the winner of the replay between Spartans and Berwick Rangers completing the draw.

The tie between United and Celtic, in fact, is the first of three meetings between the sides in as many weeks. The weekend following the Scottish Cup clash they face each other at Hampden in the League Cup final, before convening at Celtic Park on March 21 in the SPFL Premiership. United were the last team to beat Ronny Deila's side, winning 2-1 in the league on December 21, and Erskine sees no reason why they cannot come out on top again in the Scottish Cup.

"Someone has to beat Celtic if they are going to win the cup and I don't see why it can't be us," said the former Partick Thistle player. "I'm sure Celtic will be thinking they'd rather not have got us. We've beaten them already this season which will help. We rode our luck a bit at Tannadice that day but got the victory that we deserved. I don't see why we can't beat them again in the Scottish Cup. We know that when we're on our game we're as good as anyone in the league. Hopefully on that day we play well and get the victory."

Celtic's deadline-day capture of Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven from United will likely add further spice to the cup tie, with Erskine grateful his former team-mates will be ineligible for it.

"GMS and Stuart have moved on and we just have to move on without them. I'm just glad they can't play against us in the cup as they are two good players. We've got good players who are ready to come in and take their places."

Erskine was on loan at Thistle when United lost season's final to St Johnstone but knows the defeat still smarts with many of his team-mates. He added: "A lot of the boys are still hurting after last year's final. Getting to a final and losing is probably the worst thing that can happen to you. I know there's a massive determination among the squad to go one better this time around."

Liam Henderson revealed Ronny Deila has set his players the target of becoming the first Celtic team to complete a domestic clean sweep since Martin O'Neill's side managed it in 2001.

"The manager has been talking to us about the treble a lot," said the midfielder. "All of the players want it too. Winning the treble is a tough task and we are still only in February. We just need to keep the performances going because they have been very good in the last few months."

Henderson admitted that Celtic would have to do it the hard way if they were to progress to the semi-finals of the cup. "It's probably the toughest draw we could have got but I'm sure we will take it in our stride," said the 18 year-old. "Tannadice is always a hard place to go but hopefully we can get the result up there. United are definitely a dangerous team. They have got some quality players and some really good young players like Charlie Telfer. With someone like Nadir Ciftci up front, they have the ability to cause us a lot of problems. But I'm sure we will have a game plan and we are looking forward to the tie."