PAUL PATON, the Dundee United midfielder, believes Celtic have "manipulated" situations in their favour for many years.

United head into a fourth successive match against the Glasgow club tomorrow harbouring the belief that key decisions have gone against them in the previous three encounters. Among others they felt they should have had a penalty in the League Cup final when Scott Brown nudged Ryan Dow in the box, and that Efe Ambrose should have been sent off for a second booking in Wednesday's William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final replay that Celtic won 4-0. Paton also felt, having not seen a replay at the time, that team-mate Ryan McGowan had also been unlucky to have been sent off for a tackle on Liam Henderson that Ronny Deila described as potentially career-threatening. United announced their intention yesterday to appeal the red card meaning McGowan will be available to play at Celtic Park tomorrow.

"Ronny Deila has an opinion on everything and that is his view," said Paton. "We look at things differently as it looked like a fine tackle to me [by McGowan] and that is my opinion. I don't know if I am being biased but I will have to look back at the tackle and I did not think that there was too much in it and Celtic have made a lot of it.

"I don't really read too much into what Deila has to say or who he puts pressure on, but I think Celtic as a club can manipulate people more than Dundee United can. That kind of thing has been happening for years.

"I thought [Ambrose] was lucky to stay on the park but we have seen it in the last few meetings that we don't seem to get things like that going for us against Celtic. How he stayed on the park I will never know as it is a clear yellow card [for a foul on Nadir Ciftci] but when you come to places like Celtic Park you never seem to get these decisions.

"I don't know if it is just coincidence but you saw last weekend in the League Cup final that we should have had a clear penalty. We didn't get the penalty and then Ambrose should have got sent off when we were on top in the replay and it did not happen. Small things like that change games.

"We have seen injustices in the last few games we have played and that causes frustration and it feels that we do not get any decisions and that it is continual."

Paton was also involved when Anthony Stokes was sent off, the pair seeming to clash before the Irishman was shown the red card. Stokes left the field with a bleeding lip, but Paton insisted any contact was unintentional.

"What happens on the pitch stays on the pitch," he said. "I have ran across him and I don't know if he thinks I have meant to hit him but he has lashed out and he has caught me on the side of the face. These things happen in the game. I stepped across him and I don't know if I have caught him with my leg or my arm, I honestly don't know but it was certainly not intentional."

United travel back to Celtic Park tomorrow looking for their first victory in this sequence of four back-to-back matches. To make their task harder, Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong, their former players, will be available to play having been cup-tied for the first three games.

"You could say [we are sick of the sight of Celtic]," added Paton. "We know it won't be any easier on Saturday and they will have our two ex-players available as well. It is a hard place to come but we don't make it easy for ourselves either.

"We are professionals and Celtic are the best team in the country. We have gone there and lost 4-0 and that is hard to take but you have to take it on the chin and get on with it. We are big enough and we come here again on Saturday with a clean slate."