Bhoys Ready For Bosnian Test

Neil Lennon is delighted with the form his side are showing in the early stages of the new campaign, and the team go into this week’s Europa League play-off full of confidence and in form

- Tony Connelly

The fate of Celtic’s European ambitions will be decided this week as the Scottish champions face familiar opponents FK Sarajevo in the Europa League play-off.

Winning away from home in Europe is no easy task but Neil Lennon’s side travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina in good form and high in confidence after an impressive domestic display at the weekend.

FK Sarajevo are the final hurdle in Celtic’s ambitions to qualify for the Europa League group stages and, with it being a one-off tie, the Hoops must once again win away from home, something they did last week against Riga FC in Latvia.

“We’re looking forward to it, off the back of a really good performance at the weekend against Hibs,” Neil Lennon told the Celtic View in an exclusive interview.

“We know some of their players and they’ve added a few new faces. We’re expecting it to be a very physical game with two teams very motivated to qualify. They’re on good form, they’ve won the last four games and are a decent threat in the attacking areas. But we feel that if we can find our best form again, we should give them plenty of problems.”

Celtic did exactly that last year when they were drawn against the Bosnian side in the first qualifying round of the Champions League. The Hoops won 3-1 away and put the tie to bed with a 2-1 victory in Glasgow.

However, tonight’s game (Thursday) will not take place in FK Sarajevo’s home ground because the club’s stadium does not meet the standards set out by UEFA for this stage of the competition. Instead, the game will take at the Bilino Polje Stadium in Zenica, which is home to NK Celik.