NIR BITON is set to be handed his Celtic debut at Tannadice tomorrow after the Israeli midfielder was granted a work permit.

Teemu Pukki could also be in line to pull on the Hoops very soon as the Parkhead club move closer to agreeing personal terms with the Finnish striker.

However, Celtic face a race against time to get on board the other players Neil Lennon wants to add to his squad as the deadline for clubs in Scotland is earlier than it is for many other countries in Europe.

Clubs must register their squads with Uefa for the Champions League group stage by 11pm on Monday. However, under Article 18.2 of Uefa's rules, to be eligible to play in the Champions League or the Europa League, a player must be registered with the local association.

The SFA will close registrations at midnight tomorrow, while the SPFL will pull down the shutters an hour earlier.

Which means other managers in various countries will have two days longer than Lennon to shop for late deals.

At the same time, Celtic may be vulnerable to approaches for their players for a further 48 hours after they are forced to stop recruiting.

Despite that, Lennon - boosted by the £15million for qualifying for the Champions League group stage - will still pursue the final pieces of the jigsaw he has been building throughout the summer.

Biton and Pukki will join Amido Balde, Virgil van Dijk, Steven Mouyokolo and Derk Boerrigter at Parkhead

"Biton will come into the squad for Tannadice and that will freshen things up," said Lennon after the 21-year-old was given a work permit.

"I'm not sure Pukki is done yet, but we're close. I think he will be in tonight or tomorrow. "

Lennon insisted Celtic had not deliberately dragged their heels in signing others until they got to the group stage.

And, despite the handicap of the early close of business at the SFA and SPFL, Lennon has not given up hope of adding to his squad.

He said: "We've been working very hard. What I didn't want to do was go to the last couple of days of the window, but that's what we will have to do."