IT'S the double-edged sword hanging over Celtic as though dangled by Damocles himself.

Celtic need to score two - ideally three - times against Shakhter Karagandy tomorrow night - but not concede any - to have a chance of qualifying for the group stage of the Champions League.

Neil Lennon would love to instruct his players to go for the jugular right from the off.

But, 2-0 down from last week's first leg, he knows how damaging it would be to any momentum they have gained if his side concede another goal.

So the Hoops boss has to get the balance right from the off, and keep his fingers crossed his strikers are more on the ball and his defence are not as charitable as they were in Astana.

"I think we will be all right in terms of getting goals, it's keeping then out at the back," said Lennon with admirable honesty when asked what concerns him most, scoring or conceding?

"The reality of it is, if they get one we have to get four. The players will be aware of that. And, if they do have to get four, then they are determined to do that.

"But we need to play with a bit of savvy. It is going to be difficult to break Shakhter down at times, but I think we have the nous and the quality to do that."

It's a challenge which has occupied Lennon's mind every waking minute since the first leg ended.

There is so much on the line: A place in the group stage of the Champions league; a guaranteed cheque for £15million; the chance to bring in more players; prestige for the club; the opportunity to show last season's run in the competition was no flash in the pan.

The temptation to simply go for it from the first whistle is strong, but it will take smarter thinking than that to get the job done.

"Everyone says get an early goal, but we just need one in each half to take it to extra time or you can go on and win it," says Lennon, who has been inundated with advice in the past week, most of it unsolicited.

"We will need patience and nerve, but I think we showed plenty of that in the second half against Inverness on Saturday.

"We were behind, but kept plugging away and in the end scored a very good second goal."

The game against league leaders Inverness was classed as the prefect dress rehearsal for tomorrow night, not least because the visitors got two goals of a head start.

Lennon would have much preferred the situation not to have become as similar to the one facing them against Shakhter because a clean sheet would have done so much to boost confidence ahead of

tomorrow's game.

But given where they found themselves after 35 minutes against Terry Butcher's side, the Hoops boss revealed he tried to use the predicament they found themselves in into a positive.

"We said to the players at half-time, 'Look, you are behind and you have got 45 minutes to get another goal or two to win it. You will have 90 minutes on Wednesday'.

"What we can't do is concede the kind of goals we conceded on Saturday. They were poor, from our point of view."

Particularly the second, which came from a long throw. The echoes of Astana were deafening, and Lennon knows his players must be alert to alarm bells ringing.

He said: "I was really disappointed with the goals we conceded against Inverness. The first was a very good hit, but the second was really poor from our point of view.

"We have got to deal better with the initial header, then the second ball. Emilio Izaguirre has got to head it high and clear, and for some reason he has flicked it across his own box. That's sloppy.

"But we got a head of steam up in the second half and the fans stayed with the team again. It depends how people want to look at it, but for me it was a point gained.

"I just felt that, in the second half against Inverness, we lacked that bit of quality.

However, we got the equaliser, which we thoroughly deserved, and I was very pleased with the character the team showed."

That missing quality has to be rediscovered tomorrow night or another night of missed opportunities looms.

Lennon is hoping Anthony Stokes, Georgios Samaras, Kris Commons, James Forrest and Derk Boerrigter will all recover in time from their various injuries to add firepower to the side, though Stokes and Boerrigter are rated as doubtful.

As in Astana last weekend, on Saturday the supply of ammunition into the box was good, but someone to pull the trigger was missing.

Indeed, it took a sclaff from Charlie Mulgrew and a piece of individual excellence from Adam Matthews to get the point against Caley.

As Celtic look out for a hero, Amido Balde was given the chance to prove he is the man who should be unleashed on Shakhter.

But the Portuguese striker failed the audition and is still searching for his first competitive goal for the club he joined for £2m in the summer.

"We brought Amido in, and it is maybe a bit premature to be playing him," reflected the Celtic manager.

"I thought he did fine and was a presence in the box, which we have lacked. But we miss having a sniffer in the penalty area."

Tony Watt has already proved himself the man who can make the headlines, scoring the goal which gave Celtic victory over Barcelona in last season's Champions League.

The youngster has struggled to live up to the instant reputation he gained that evening and was given a rare start at the weekend. He looked lively and his running and link- up play was impressive for the Hoops.

Lennon agreed he was effective in wide areas, but added tellingly: "Though not under instruction, sometimes.

"He did very well and he gave the team great pace going forward at times.

"I would like him to be more of a threat in terms of being in the box because he likes to drift a little bit wider. But he can be pleased with his contribution." Will Watt be invited to participate in a more disciplined

manner tomorrow? Will Balde be given another chance?

The recovery rate of several of their team-mates could decide this.

But whoever he selects, Lennon remains adamant they can pull off this fight back.

He said: "We have enough to win the tie and go through.

"We'll get a head of steam up, the fans will be behind us, but we have got to patient as well.

"If the goal doesn't come early, this team is capable of scoring at any time."