KRIS COMMONS reckons Celtic are already firing on all cylinders and are ready to move up through the gears to reach the Group Stage of the Champions league.

Neil Lennon's side revved up with a 3-0 victory in their opening qualifying tie against Cliftonville on Wednesday. And that eased any worries they would be caught cold because of the early start to the campaign.

Commons revealed he was never concerned about their state of readiness – even after they lost all four of their warm-up games in Germany and Austria.

He said: "In pre-season games, you try to get up to speed. But when called upon most of our big players turned up on Wednesday."

Only a catastrophe in the return leg on Tuesday will prevent the Hoops going through to the third and final qualifying round, which will open the door to the play-off for a place in the group stages.

Even though he is clearly resigned to losing best pal Gary Hooper to either QPR or Norwich, and with Victor Wanyama already away, Commons predicts Celtic can use their experience to safely negotiate the remaining obstacles between them and the competition proper.

"I think the manager wants to use the second leg on Tuesday as pre-season preparation.

"There are still a lot of players coming back from injury and Scott Brown is still trying to get back up to speed, so I think a lot of players will be itching to play.

"We will be able to rotate and try to get the likes of Adam Matthews, Joe Ledley and the others who are not quite up to speed a game."

The Welsh pair could even figure in tomorrow's friendly at Brentford when most of the Bhoys who played in Belfast will be rested.

Latest signing Steven Mouyokolo is another who could be given a run-out if he has recovered from the leg injury he picked up in Germany.

But Tuesday is what is the main focus for Lennon – and Commons knows they are well on course to reach the next round.

He said: "Cliftonville are going to come and try to enjoy the experience and just play as though they have got nothing to lose.

"But I think an early goal will kill off the tie."

Commons was a key figure in the first-leg win, striking the woodwork twice, and delivering the balls for Mikael Lustig and Georgios Samaras to put the Hoops in easy street.

"It was a potential banana skin," said the attacking midfielder. "I think of it like an FA Cup tie where you go down to a lower-league team, the surface is tricky, the fans are keen as mustard.

"It is one of those where if you are not 100% on the ball or fully focused you can slip up.

"So for us on Wednesday it was all about being professional and ruthless in front of goal and getting a good lead."

The majority of Celtic fans will get their first glimpse of this season's side on Tuesday when they play at Parkhead for the first time since the end of the last campaign.

They will be keen to assess new arrivals, Virgil van Dijk, Mouyokolo and Amido Balde.

Commons predicts the club will back Lennon's drive to add even more quality to the squad, possibly before the second leg against Cliftonville.

But he insists they already have a strong group of players, even without Wanyama and Hooper.

"It's not like we are going to lose Gary and no-one is going to score," he said.

"Or, with Victor going, we are not going to lose that presence in midfield."

Commons tips Anthony Stokes to step into Hooper's role as main goal-getter and said: "It is important Stokesy now tries to take that mantle.

"We're going to lose Gary, so let's see if he can go and score 20 or 25 goals a season and maintain that.

"But, certainly, other additions to the squad would make us stronger."