THE CELTIC chairman, John Reid, had not long been appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when a curious sequence began in September 2001. Juventus beat Celtic 3-2 in Turin, establishing a pattern which has smothered the Glasgow club.

Whether under Martin O'Neill or Gordon Strachan, Celtic find it impossible to win away from home in the Champions League. Of 15 group stage matches, 14 have been lost and one drawn. Two more away fixtures in the last 16 round have been just as fruitless.

It's a record which draws weary looks when presented to Strachan and his players, but it is nevertheless hard to ignore. Nor is it an encouraging backdrop for the visit to the Madrigal on Tuesday night, when a very much in-form Villarreal lie in wait. After failing to seal the customary home win against Aalborg in the first round of matches at Parkhead, Celtic will have to eke out at least one away win in the remaining five matches to have any hope of reaching the last 16 for the third year in a row.

Sequences, though, are there to be broken and there is encouragement for Strachan's side in the fact that Olympiakos, who had previously gone 31 Champions League games without recording an away success, won two games on their travels during the group stage last season. Nor does sports psychologist Richard Cox believe that the current squad should be intimidated by the club's dismal away record.

"The sequence belongs to Celtic, not the 11 players who are going to take the park," he explained, when asked what Strachan could do to take this monkey off his players' backs. "People say this team is not as good as Celtic sides of the past - I would use that as a challenge and tell the players they could break a sequence that others couldn't."

Cox, who has worked across a range of sports, accepts that Celtic have a tough job on their hands on Tuesday. "Any analyst would predict a Villarreal win, so they go in as underdogs," he said. "If Gordon Strachan is well prepared, he can't do any more. If he hasn't got the players because he hasn't got the money to buy them, it's like playing with one arm tied behind your back."

Having failed to find a winning formula in the previous two seasons, Strachan hinted strongly at using the 4-5-1 formation which was tested in pre-season matches.

"You can call it one up front or three up front," the manager pointed out. "It's one up front when you're defending and three up front when you're attacking.

"You've got to try to change it anyway, because what we've tried over the last couple of years hasn't worked, that's for sure. We've got different players this year and different strengths.

"We've got more variation out of our attacking play at the moment, and more energy than we've had for a long time. The first team has loads of experience as well."

Assuming Strachan does go for a single striker, supported by two wide players in attack, the role will almost certainly be assigned to Georgios Samaras. The Greek has been promoted from the supporting cast to centre stage, and has rewarded his manager with nine goals already this season.

If Strachan was to take a gamble on playing both Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady on the flanks, Celtic would have plenty of pace and trickery with which to keep the mobile Samaras productively busy. The striker wasn't at his best against Aalborg, and still has to prove he can extend the goals outwith Scotland, but at the age of 23 he provides Strachan with energetic willingness and is clearly bang on form.

"He's just an unstoppable force at the moment - you let that roll," acknowledged Strachan. "He's a terrific guy to coach - a sponge for knowledge. There's one or two people in life you speak to who just look at you and aren't listening. His attitude is: give me more. He likes his team-mates, which is a great thing. His dad was a top footballer and brought him up well. You'd be proud of him if he was your son."

While happy with his Greek, Strachan is aware that Villarreal are festooned with South Americans who give the Spanish side an extra dimension. No fewer than nine are registered in the Champions League squad of 25 and the Celtic manager said: "They can go to that market - we can't, because of the situation with work permits. They will generate a lot of money from these players, and that money goes back into Spanish football. Everybody else seems to have that way of doing it, but we can't have it."

Villarreal continue to prosper under Manuel Pellegrini, the Chilean who was appointed manager in 2004. The 0-0 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford underlined their defensive qualities, and Celtic will have to strain every sinew on Tuesday night to squeeze even a point out of the game.

"Villarreal have been steadily building up to being one of Europe's top sides," Strachan agreed. "If we can get a draw there that would be great, but we'd love a win. Having said that, a draw takes points out of the section and lowers the total needed to get through."