VIRGIL VAN DIJK and co aim to become History Bhoys tonight as Celtic play their 300th European tie.

Beside the mud-flats on the border between Romania and Bulgaria, Ronny Deila's side can be the first Hoops to qualify from a European group with two games to spare.

The previous best was reaching the last 16 of the Champions League in 2006 on match day five after beating Manchester United at Parkhead.

The next season Gordon Strachan got them through the group stages for a second time but only on the final day, saved by with Benfica's win against Shakhtar Donetsk.

It was the same down-to-the-wire drama on match day six when Neil Lennon steered Celtic to the last 16 of the Champions League in 2012 with a last-gasp win against Spartak Moscow at Parkhead.

Deila's side are also on course to beat Celtic's group-stage points record of 10 but his first target is to bag one of the two qualification spots.

His players go into tonight's game in Giurgiu knowing a win there and a victory for Salzburg in Zagreb against Dinamo would be enough to take them and the Austrians into the round of 32.

But Celtic will have to set yet another piece of history to retain top spot in the group as no Scottish club has ever won in Romania in 10 attempts.

With John Guidetti ineligible, Anthony Stokes sick and Kris Commons and James Forrest failing to recover for the trip, it will be tough for Deila to make this landmark.

Aleksander Tonev is in the squad, and Deila said an appeal against his seven-game ban for racist abuse of Shay Logan has been submitted.

More importantly, Craig Gordon is back after missing last weekend's game against Inverness having reported some discomfort in a knee.

That is reassuring for Deila, who saw Astra create a clutch of decent chances before finally losing 2-1 to Celtic at Parkhead a fortnight ago.

But he said: "It is going to be a tough and, if we can win it, it's going to be a fantastic achievement."

Celtic showed in Salzburg on match day one they are becoming more comfortable playing away than at home.

Deila has a theory about this: "It is easier to defend than to attack, and at home we have to attack," he said. "Away we are defending more, and a lot of our players have good experience of that. So that has something to do with it. But we need to do both now.

"We have had six clean sheets in our last 10 games, and currently three in a row, so we have to keep up that standard."

Stefan Scepovic will lead the chase for goals, though Leigh Griffiths could also find a place in a wider position.

The Serbian broke his Euro duck - and the deadlock - for the Hoops in their last match against Astra. "I'm confident Stefan can come in and do well," Deila added.

The Hoops boss is acutely aware that, like Scepovic, his own credentials are still being examined. He acknowledged: "It's very important for me to maintain this club's tradition and history in Europe.

"It's harder and harder for Celtic to do well in Europe because of the difference in finances with so many of the other clubs.

"We just have to work even harder to develop players and find the right ones elsewhere."