Ronny Deila wants Celtic to make the most of their Europa League away days.
In 2011 draws away to Rennes and Udinese gave Neil Lennon’s side the confidence to mount a challenge in the SPL and eventually forced Rangers into liquidation as they won the title and slammed shut the door to the Champions League.
The backbone of that team has moved on with only Emilio Izaguirre, Kris Commons and Scott Brown likely to start tonight in Salzburg but Deila is determined to take something from the trip to Austria.
“Our three opponents – Salzburg, Zagreb and Astra – are not so well known to everybody but are good teams,” the Celtic boss explained.
“It is important to get points from away games. If you can do that, you have a good chance to get through. We have to defend well and take our chances.”
Charlie Mulgrew, Adam Matthews, James Forrest and Mikael Lustig are missing through injury, plus John Guidetti due to an SFA blunder, meaning that Deila’s options are limited- especially in defence.
Loan signing Alexsandar Tonev has been subjected to allegations of racism from Aberdeen since the weekend but Deila has no issue over selecting the Bulgarian.
“That has been no trouble for him,” the Celtic boss responded to the Tonev issue over the last few days. “We made a statement and I trust my players. I know he didn’t do it.
“He is an honest player and I believe in what he is saying. We have not wasted any energy on that at all. He seems very comfortable.
“We haven’t talked about it because it hasn’t been an issue. Everybody knows we don’t want to be associated with those words. I trust my players and he hasn’t said it.”