VIKTOR KUMYKOV claims Shakhter Karagandy will have the whole of Kazakhstan behind his team tonight.
The Kazakh club have moved the match 114 miles away from their own ground to the artificial surface in Astana, looking to take a step closer to becoming the first team from the former Soviet Republic to reach the Champions League.
Kumykov claims everyone in the country will put aside their usual allegiances to root for his side.
"We believe the supporters are very important in this game," said the Russian. "We think there will be many supporters there, not only from Karaganda (the main city in Karagandy province) and Astana but from other parts of the country and we believe and hope the whole nation will be behind us."
Shakhter beat Belarusian side BATE Borisov in the second qualifying round before knocking out Skenderbeu of Albania.
However, Kumykov claimed his club were only learning the game compared to Celtic.
"This game is going to be very difficult," he said. "We are newcomers to the Champions League, Celtic is a very experienced club and are former champions of Europe. We are students and they are teachers. Our main task is to obtain the experience of playing in the Champions League and I am hoping we will be able to show our best game."
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