Brad Lyons is confident Kilmarnock can make Sunday's Scottish Premiership clash with Celtic a winning one. 

Killie have only lost three times at Rugby Park since the turn of the year and have already defeated Rangers on home turf this season. 

Lyons, 27, knows the quality Celtic possess, yet believes his side will channel belief from previous meetings to try end the Hoops' unbeaten league run.

"We know Celtic’s qualities, they have quality players in every position, but so do we," he stated.

“We are not going into this game shying away from it. We know their quality, but we can give them a good go here.

“We are going to go in and back ourselves. It’s 11 players against 11 players out there. As I said before the Rangers game, we beat both Old Firm teams out there last year so why can’t we do it this year?

“We have that feeling of beating Celtic, we have that confidence, we know we can do it, so why can’t we do it again on Sunday?”

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Celtic's Callum McGregor has been pivotal to their impressive recent results, both domestically and in Europe. And Lyons acknowledges the importance of stifling the 31-year-old's influence on the game.

"We know Callum MacGregor is a top quality player and I would say an even better pro because he's doing it so consistently for so many years," the Kilmarnock midfielder said. "We know when he's playing at his best, Celtic are playing at their best. He makes them tick.

"So we'll try and set game plans up, try and not get him as much involvement in the game. We need to try and null and void their better players or their ball players to try and not let them get into the rhythm.

Lyons, who this week earned a call-up to the Northern Ireland squad for their upcoming UEFA Nations League matches against Belarus and Luxembourg, was asked what makes the Celtic captain such a tough opponent.

"I think it's just like any top footballer, it's their footballing intelligence," he explained. "He's such a smart player. If you watch him, he'll probably never give the ball away during games. His communication too, that's why he's a captain of Celtic.

"He's always talking, he's always on the move and it's just his football intelligence, getting in the right positions at the right time. When you're watching players like that, you can learn so much off them. I've watched him a lot and I've played against him a lot. It's just taking those good habits that he has, getting in the right positions, playing what he sees straight away. He's a top quality player and you've got to respect him at times."

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Lyons reckons performing consistently for Killie has helped him gain international recognition, and he's eager to show that he can shine at that level. 

"I’m absolutely buzzing with the call up," he beamed. "Anytime you get a call up for the national team, I think it's the pinnacle. It's a dream come true getting called up and I just want to get as many caps under my belt as possible. It's a proud moment representing the country.

"I've always said that if you're not doing it on the pitch every weekend for your club, you're definitely not going to get near the international stage. 

"It's the top players for each country and probably all the Celtic players are internationals because they've got that sheer quality. This is why we play football, to test ourselves against the best and Celtic are the best at the moment."