Ross County v Celtic: Giant-killings & six-goal drubbings - five famous encounters

Hampden giant-killings, Parkhead drubbings and Highland thrillers - Ross County and Celtic have contested some blockbuster showdowns in recent years.

Since joining the fourth tier of Scottish football in 1994, County have earned a reputation for punching above their weight.

Celtic, long established as one of Scotland's trophy-laden heavyweights, have been stunned more than once, but dished out their fair share of heavy beatings.

On Sunday, the sides meet in Dingwall, as Celtic aim to preserve their narrow lead at the Premiership summit, and County bid to pull clear of the basement dwellers.

Here, BBC Scotland profiles five of their most memorable clashes.

The sides first met in the Scottish Cup third round almost 15 years ago with County, playing in the old First Division, raring to tackle a team of Celtic behemoths. The great Henrik Larsson, John Hartson, Paul Lambert, Stiliyan Petrov, Shaun Maloney, and current boss Neil Lennon were all named in the home line-up.

Only 10 years out of the Highland League, the Dingwall men were praised for their resolute defensive display on their maiden trip to Parkhead.

They failed to replicate the famous success of their northern neighbour Inverness, who "went ballistic" in a 3-1 triumph four years earlier, but a 2-0 defeat was no disgrace, with Hartson and Lambert killing them off.

This became little County's greatest day, as the second-tier underdogs slew the mighty Celtic at Hampden en route to a first-ever Scottish Cup final.

Having already booted out Hibernian in the last eight, 7,000 fans - more than the population of Dingwall - travelled south to watch their side make history in the most incredible fashion.

Few gave them a chance against a team spearheaded by Robbie Keane, even though Celtic had floundered domestically under Tony Mowbray, with Lennon taking temporary charge.

Georgios Samaras hit the post, Keane menaced, but it was Steven Craig and Martin Scott whose second-half glory goals felled the Glasgow giants.

Although they would lose the showpiece to Dundee United, that County side and their miraculous cup run has gone down in club folklore.

A Celtic team that had beaten Barcelona fell to defeat in Dingwall in a dramatic see-sawing encounter.

The visitors led the top flight by 15 points. Newly-promoted County were on an unbeaten run of 10 games.

Four days after their wonderful Champions League voyage was ended by Juventus, Celtic led 2-0 through Charlie Mulgrew and Gary Hooper.

But, with fatigue perhaps playing a part, back roared the hosts. Grant Munro and Sam Morrow hauled them level, before German striker Steffen Wohlfarth struck a dramatic 90th-minute header to snatch a memorable win with his first goal for the club.

If that was a big upset, this was positively colossal, particularly when Gary Mackay-Steven put Celtic in front after just 26 seconds of the League Cup semi-final.

The match was turned on its head when Efe Ambrose was dismissed for fouling Alex Schalk in the box, and Martin Woods netted the resultant penalty.

Paul Quinn's header and Schalk's thunderous finish made it 3-1, with Scott Fox saving Leigh Griffiths' penalty to book the Highlanders' place in the final.

Not only was this a massive victory in its own right, but with County going on to beat Hibs in the final, it paved the way to their first major honour.

Ross County have suffered a couple of four- and even a five-goal defeat at the hands of the Scottish champions, but October's 6-0 loss was a pride-denting moment for the team upon their return to the top division.

Mohammed Elyounoussi opened the scoring and Celtic peppered the away goal with 21 more shots before the interval.

County held out, but Celtic would score four goals in a nine-minute second-half blitz, with Elyounoussi, Odsonne Edouard (twice), Calum McGregor and James Forrest all netting after the interval.