EMILIO Izaguirre regards each match he gets the chance to play as a blessing from above.

Most years, the devout Celtic full-back spends the month of June flying to various outposts in Central America to compete for Honduras without complaint, despite having endured a gruelling Scottish season.

This summer, however, he is looking to be exempted. The 28-year-old will insist that national team boss Luis Fernando Suarez excuses him from the country's Gold Cup campaign and the three international friendlies which precede it.

This is not, you understand, an international retirement. It is merely an acknowledgement that Celtic's Champions League qualifying ties, which kick off in mid July, take precedence over anything other than World Cup matches. This year's biennial CONCACAF continental tournament, an event which Izaguirre graced in 2013, will be played in the USA and Canada between July 7 and 26, with the Hondurans' preparation a series of international friendlies at venues as diverse as Arlington, Texas, to play Ethiopia, Asuncion and Porto Allegre to take on hosts Paraguay and Brazil.

"I have a contract with Celtic and a moral obligation to be here with my team," Izaguirre said. "So I am going to talk to the Honduras Federation and they will understand that I have to be here. I want to be here for June 23 so I can start pre-season. For me, the most important are the matches for World Cup classification - I don't want to miss those. For Celtic, the Champions League qualifiers are very important. This will give other players, particularly the young players in Honduras, the chance to play in the Gold Cup."

Such club versus country issues can wait, though. For now, all the focus remains on the remainder of this season, and making sure Celtic get over the line for their third domestic treble. It is an honour the Honduran may feel he should have achieved by now.

Izaguirre does little to reject the popular theory that today's Hampden showdown with Inverness Caledonian Thistle will represent the most difficult assignment in the pursuit of their first domestic clean sweep since 2001. The Highlanders have been noted as formidable opp- onents since a 3-2 win under the reign of Terry Butcher in May 2011 which saw Neil Lennon's side lose the title by a point in the Northern Irishman's first full season in charge.

"Every match is tough but the ones against Inverness are particularly difficult," Izaguirre said. "They are always tough. They always play in a very physical style and are good on the counter attack.

"Playing against them always reminds me of the time we lost 3-2 to them. It cost us the title but after that we started to progress again. It was very sad but the most important thing for us after that was that we kept our heads up and continued to improve. I am praying to God that this is the year when we can win the treble."

Divine inspiration or not, like everyone else in the Celtic squad, Izaguirre has had some adjustments to make this season. But, with Ronny Deila indulging the attacking parts of his game, the Honduran has had another satisfactory season.

"For us the most important thing is that we understood how he wanted Celtic to play," said the Honduran of those difficult first months under Deila. "I feel that Celtic play differently now than they did last year. It was difficult at first, because we had played four years under one coach. Then from one season to another we had another coach, and everything was different."

The 28-year-old hasn't been mentioned in any of the player of the year voting, but Celtic's success has been a real team effort. Even he struggles to narrow down his contenders for the best player award to four.

"It is very difficult, because they are all good players," he said. "I always have four and at the moment my four are Scott Brown, Craig Gordon, Stefan Johansen and Virgil van Dijk."

Also in on the mutual appreciation act is Ronny Deila, who made his Inverness counterpart John Hughes his manager of the year. While Hughes is a regular golf partner of Celtic assistant boss John Collins, Deila has yet to be invited.

"No, I haven't," said Deila. "But I would love to do that because I think he is a good guy. I respect what he has done. He looks like someone who enjoys life. He always seems happy."

Get past the Highlanders at Hampden today and Celtic will feel they have avoided their most arduous hazard to remain on course for a treble.