'Elf' and safety as Celtic hold firm in Sweden

But despite once again being seeded, and the quality of opposition stepping up another notch, Neil Lennon knows his players will not have to fight any harder than they did here last night.

The goalless draw against Elfsborg was enough to take them through, the single goal scored by Kris Commons in last week's first leg in Glasgow eventually all that separated the champions of Scotland from their counterparts from Sweden.

They had to scrap all the way to extend their shut-out record in qualifying and play-off matches to seven games.

Celtic missed good chances in the first half to ease the tension, but Lennon was impressed by the way they kept their nerve to hold out against Elfsborg, who now drop down to the Europa League play-off round.

The manager put his trust in the men who have rebuilt Celtic's reputation in Europe, which meant no place for Anthony Stokes or Beram Kayal.

The team selected did include Kelvin Wilson, who will not travel with his team-mates to the play-off round, but straight to Nottingham to rejoin Forest in a £2.5million transfer.

The central defender showed admirable strength of character to sign off without any of the lapses of concentration that have so pock-marked his two-year tenure at Celtic.

There was one heart-in-mouth moment, on the hour, when his clumsy tackle on James Keene in the area brought furious claims for a penalty from the Elfsborg players, but to no avail. Over the piece, Wilson looked much more secure than his defensive partner, Efe Ambrose, who for the second time in a week, was out-muscled and out-thought by Elfsborg's loan striker, Mo Bangura, who passed a fitness test on a hamstring strain to line up against his parent club.

There was no sign of any physical impediment when Bangura sprung acrobatically to send an overhead-kick inches past Fraser Forster's left-hand post with just six minutes gone, the man from Sierra Leone having found acres of space between Wilson and Ambrose to get on the end of Stefan Ishizaki's cross from the right.

That was a recurring theme in the opening period of the game, Celtic failing to close down delivery and Bangura utilising some surreptitious nudges on his markers when the ball was in flight to collect and create an opening.

His footwork and enthusiasm were impressive, but his finishing reminded everyone why he was deemed surplus to requirements at Celtic.

The knowledge that scoring one themselves would almost certainly put the tie beyond the reach of Elfsborg encouraged Lennon's side to commit to attack at any given opportunity, though the difficulty they had contending with the underfoot conditions posed as much of a barrier as the Elfsborg defence.

Nevertheless, the best chances fell to Celtic and they were entitled to feel that they should have taken at least one.

Georgios Samaras had an early opportunity to add to his European goals tally when Mikael Lustig chased down a long ball to the goal-line and cut back a precision cross which the Greek striker rose to head without challenge.

He could not keep the effort down, however, and the noisy home support breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Samaras was also involved in Celtic's best chance of the half after 20 minutes, his presence forcing Jon Jonsson to handle to deny the striker a clear run in on goal.

Russian referee, Vladislav Bezborodov, who earlier had appeared ready to caution Bangura for handball, only, seemingly, to discover he had entered the field without a yellow card, decided a free-kick was punishment enough, though Celtic players contested a clear goalscoring opportunity had been prevented by the foul.

Commons took the free-kick, 26 yards out, but his shot struck the wall.

Fortunately for Celtic, the ball emerged on the goal-side of the barrier, and Joe Ledley was first to react.

As he shot, he was pulled to the ground by a desperate Elfsborg hand. Neither the referee nor his assistant spotted the infringement, and as Kevin Stuhr-Ellegaard blocked Ledley's shot, the feeling of double injustice brought howls of protest from the Celtic players.

Ledley again came close to breaking the deadlock with a 25-yard shot that flew inches wide of an upright as the referee brought the first half to an end.

With Elfsborg's desperation to score growing by the minute, they committed more and more men forward.

And the tactic came very close to paying a dividend 10 minutes after the break when Larsson's long throw reached the Celtic six-yard box, where it was deflected towards Forster's goal like a pinball.

The keeper had to make a reaction save with his right foot as Keene raced in to pick up any scraps, but the situation was eased when the linesman indicated offside.

With Samaras replaced by Stokes for the final 21 minutes, enough time to join Scott Brown in the ref's book, Celtic hoped to add some fresh impetus to their own attack.

The sub had a great chance to do that in stoppage time, but failed to find Commons with his pass when his team-mate was in the clear.

Mulgrew's departure soon after Samaras was enforced as he suffered a leg injury, with Adam Matthews entering the action.

As Celtic regrouped, Emilio Izaguirre committed a rash challenge on Elfsborg sub, Simon Hedlund, but the delivery by Ishazaki was too long and the danger passed.

Celtic can now draw breath, and await 'Zadok The Priest'.