After losing all four of their pre-season friendlies, alongside the sales of both Victor Wanyama and Gary Hooper, Celtic are now pushing forward for their third win in a row this Wednesday in the second leg of the third qualifying round of the Champions League.

Though Neil Lennon’s battle hardened team only narrowly beat Ross County at the weekend after a 2-1 win, the victory is yet another sign that the Champions League could well be on the books for Scotland’s most successful team.

After a string of defeats, clouds seemed to be gathering over Celtic Park before the season had even begun, as some fans were questioning whether the team even had the ability to beat part-time side, Cliftonville, in the second qualifying round.

Matt Le Tissier however, thought otherwise:

“The visitors could be in for a tense night facing intimidation on and off the pitch and will be grateful to return to Glasgow with a narrow advantage.

At 1-4 Celtic are too short to back for a win, so I’ll go for 2-0 correct score which looks better value at 13/2 with BetVictor”

Having won the Irish team with a 5-0 aggregate, Celtic pushed on to a 1-0 home victory against Elfsborg last Thursday and should be looking forward to the second leg later this week.

English Forward James Keene however, believes that his Swedish team can overturn Celtic’s lead and defeat them in the second leg of the qualifiers. Speaking to the BBC, he said: “We are going into the game at home with confidence. Celtic Park was always going to be a tough place, but I think we showed that we are going to ask a lot of questions at home.”

Though Celtic are without some of their most important players of last season, whether through sales or injury, it is something that has not gone unnoticed by either fans or their manager.

After watching his side win at the weekend, Lennon stated that despite Anthony Stokes having scored both goals against Ross County, he is still in need of another striker to replace top-scorer, Hooper:

“Over the years we’ve had Henrik Larsson, Scott McDonald and Hooper. We’ve been notorious for having top-class forwards. I would like another one like that in. We’re still looking.”

With Wolves striker Kevin Doyle on the books for £1.5 million however, he may have just found the replacement as last night, Wolves manager Kenny Jackett cleared the way for Celtic to sign the 29-year old – possibly just in time to face Elfsborg on Wednesday.